V 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


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THE  IMMIGRATION  COMMISSION 


ABSTRACT  OF  THE  REPORT 


ON 


JAPANESE  AND  OTHER  IMMIGRANT  RACES 

IN  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  AND  ROCKY 

MOUNTAIN  STATES 


FOR  THE  COMPLETE  REPORT  ON  JAPANESE  AND  OTHER  IMMIGRANT  RACES 

IN  THE   PACIFIC  COAST  AND   ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  STATES 

SEE  REPORTS  OF  THE  IMMIGRATION  COMMISSION 


WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1911 


THE  IMMIGRATION  COMMISSION. 


Senator  WILLIAM  P.  DILLINGHAM,  Representative  BENJAMIN  F.  HOWELL. 

Chairman.  Representative  WILLIAM  S.  BENNET. 

Senator  HENRY  CABOT  LODGE.  Representative  JOHN  L.  BURNETT. 

Senator  ASBURY  C.  LATIMER."  Mr.  CHARLES  P.  NEILL. 

Senator  ANSELM  J.  MCL/AURIN.&  Mr.  JEREMIAH  W.  JENKS. 

Senator  LE  ROY  PERCY.  c  Mr.  WILLIAM  R.  WHEELER. 

Secretaries: 

MORTON  E\  CRANE.  W.  W.  HUSBAND. 

C.  S.  ATKINSON. 

Chief  Statistician: 
FRED  C.  CROXTON. 


Extracts  from  act  of  Congress  of  February  20,  1907,  creating  and  defining  the  duties  of 
the  Immigration  Commission. 

That  a  commission  is  hereby  created,  consisting  of  three  Senators,  to  be  appointed 
by  the  President  of  the  Senate,  and  three  Members  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
to  be  appointed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  three  persons 
to  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Said  commission  shall  make 
full  inquiry,  examination,  and  investigation,  by  subcommittee  or  otherwise,  into 
the  subject  of  immigration.  For  the  purpose  of  said  inquiry,  examination,  and 
investigation  said  commission  is  authorized  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  make  all 
necessary  travel,  either  in  the  United  States  or  any  foreign  country,  and,  through  the 
chairman  of  the  commission,  or  any  member  thereof,  to  administer  paths  and  to  exam 
ine  witnesses  and  papers  respecting  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  subject,  and  to  employ 
necessary  clerical  and  other  assistance.  Said  commission  shall  report  to  Congress 
the  conclusions  reached  by  it,  and  make  such  recommendations  as  in  its  judgment 
may  seem  proper.  Such  sums  of  money  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  said  inquiry, 
examination,  and  investigation  are  hereby  appropriated  and  authorized  to  be  paid 
out  of  the  "immigrant  fund"  on  the  certificate  of  the  chairman  of  said  commission, 
including  all  expenses  of  the  commissioners,  and  a  reasonable  compensation,  to  be 
fixed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  for  those  members  of  the  commission  who 
are  not  Members  of  Congress;  *  *  *. 

a  Died  February  20,  1908. 

&  Appointed  to  succeed  Mr.  Latimer,  February  25,  1908.     Died  December  22,  1909. 

c  Appointed  to  succeed  Mr.  McLaurin,  March  16,  1910. 


LIST  OF  REPORTS  OF  THE  IMMIGRATION  COMMISSION. 


Abstract  of  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission. 

Emigration  Conditions  in  Europe. 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Summary  Report.     (Two  volumes.) 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Bituminous  Coal  Mining.     (Two  volumes.) 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Iron  and  Steel  Manufacturing.     (Two  volumes.) 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Cotton  Goods  Manufacturing  in  the  North  Atlantic  States— 
Woolen  and  Worsted  Goods  Manufacturing. 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Silk  Goods  Manufacturing  and  Dyeing — Clothing  Manu 
facturing — Collar,  Cuff,  and  Shirt  Manufacturing. 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Leather  Manufacturing — Boot  and  Shoe  Manufacturing — 
Glove  Manufacturing. 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Slaughtering  and  Meat  Packing — Sugar  Refining. 

Immigrants  in  Industries :  Glass  Manufacturing — Agricultural  Implement  and  Vehicle 
Manufacturing — -Cigar  and  Tobacco  Manufacturing. 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Furniture  Manufacturing — Copper  Mining  and  Smelting — 
Iron  Ore  Mining— Anthracite  Coal  Mining — Oil  Refining. 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Diversified  Industries.     (Two  volumes.) 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  The  Floating  Immigrant  Labor  Supply. 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Recent  Immigrants  in  Agriculture.     (Two  volumes.) 

Immigrants  in  Industries:  Japanese  and  Other  Immigrant  Races  in  the  Pacific  Ceast 
and  Rocky  Mountain  States.  (Two  volumes.)  , 

Immigrants  in  Cities.     (Two  volumes.) 

The  Children  of  Immigrants  in  Schools.     (Five  volumes.) 

Immigrants  as  Charity  Seekers.     (Two  volumes.) 

Immigrant  Delinquents  and  Defectives:  Immigration  and  Crime — Immigration  and 
Insanity — Immigrants  in  Charity  Hospitals. 

Steerage  Conditions — Immigrant  Homes  and- Aid  Societies — Importation  and  Harbor 
ing  of  Women  for  Immoral  Purposes — Contract  Labor  and  Induced  and  Assisted 
Immigration — The  Greek  Padrone  System  in  the  United  States — Immigrant  Banks. 

Changes  in  Bodily  Form  of  Descendants  of  Immigrants. 

Statistical  Review  of  Immigration  to  the  United  States,  1820-1910— Distribution  of 
Immigrants,  1850-1900. 

Occupations  of  First  and  Second  Generations  of  Immigrants  in  the  United  States — 
Fecundity  of  Immigrant  Women. 

Immigration  Legislation:  Federal  Immigration  Legislation — Digest  of  Immigration 
Decisions — Steerage  Legislation,  1819  to  1909 — State  Immigration  Legislation. 

Dictionary  of  European  and  Other  Immigrant  Races. 

The  Immigration  Situation  in  Other  Countries:  Canada — Australia — New  Zealand — 
Argentina — Brazil. 

Immigration  Conditions  in  Hawaii. 
rAlien  Seamen  and  Stowaways. 

Peonage. 

Statements  and  Recommendations  Submitted  by  Societies  and  Organizations  Inter 
ested  in  the  Subject  of  Immigration. 

(3) 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAI. 


THE  IMMIGRATION  COMMISSION, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Decembers,  1910. 

Sm:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  an  abstract  of  the 
report  of  the  Immigration  Commission  on  Japanese  and  Other  Immi 
grant  Races  in  the  Pacific  Coast  and  Rocky  Mountain  States,  which 
report  was  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Commission  hy  H.  A. 
Millis,  superintendent  of  agents. 
Respectfully, 

W.  W.  HUSBAND,  Secretary. 
Hon.  WILLIAM  P.  DILLINGHAM, 

U.  S.  Senate, 
Chairman  The  Immigration  Commission. 

(4) 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introductory 

Scope  and  method  of  investigation 11 

European  and  Canadian  immigrants 30 

Chinese 40 

Japanese 46 

East  Indians 62 

Mexicans 68 

Conclusions  and  recommendations 76 

LIST    OF  TABLES. 

Table  1.  Total  population  and  number  of  foreign-born  persons  in  continental 
United  States  and  in  each  specified  State  of  the  Western  division, 
by  country  of  birth 9 

2.  Immigrants  entering  continental  United  States  during  the  years  1901 

to  1909,  inclusive,  by  race 10 

3.  Total  number  of  employees  for  whom  information  was  secured,  by 

sex  and  general  nativity  and  race  and  by  industry 13 

4.  Number  and  per  cent  of  employees  of  each  race  for  whom  information 

was  secured,  by  sex 21 

5.  Per  cent  of  foreign-born  employees  in  the  United  States  each  specified 

number  of  years,  by  sex  and  race 22 

6.  Number  of  households  studied  in  selected  farming  localities  of  the 

Pacific  Coast  and  Rocky  Mountain  States,  by  general  nativity  and 

race  of  head  of  household 25 

7.  Number  of  households  studied,  by  general  nativity  and  race  of  head 

of  household  and  by  occupation 26 

8.  Total  number  of  persons  for  whom  information  was  secured,  by  sex  and 

general  nativity  and  race  of  individual,  and  by  occupation  of  head 

of  household 27 

9.  Average  wages  per  day  earned   by  each  specified  number  of  farm 

laborers  in  California,  by  race 56 

(5) 


JAPAiNESE  AND  OTHER  IMMIGRANT  RACES  IN  THE  PACIFIC 
COAST  AND  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  STATES. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  immigration  problem  of  the  West  takes  a  form  somewhat  dif 
ferent  from  that  of  the  eastern  and  middle  States,  principally  because 
of  differences  in  location  with  reference  to  sources  of  immigration, 
comparative  sparsity  of  population,  and  extent  of  resources  remaining 
to  be  developed  and  exploited.  The  expense  involved  in  direct  immi 
gration  to  the  West  from  Europe  is  so  great  that  European  immigrants 
are  secured  chiefly  as  a  part  of  the  general  westward  movement. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  location  and  climate  of  New  Mexico,  Arizona, 
and  California  are  such  as  to  cause  them  to  share  with  Texas  most 
of  the  immigrants  from  Mexico,  while  the  location  of  the  three 
Pacific  coast  States,  California,  Oregon,  and  Washington,  is  such  as 
to  bring  to  them  practically  the  whole  of  the  eastern  Asiatic  immigra 
tion  and  the  secondary  movement  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  The 
Rocky  Mountain  States,  save  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  are  so  placed 
that  they  must  compete  with  other  States,  since  through  them  immi 
gration  from  all  sources,  save  Canada,  must  come. 

Though  the  westward  movement  has  been  strong,  as  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  in  1900  more  than  one-half  of  the  native-born  had 
come  from  States  other  than  those  in  which  they  resided,  the  popu 
lation  of  most  localities  is  still  sparse.  In  1900  the  population  of 
the  11  States  and  Territories  comprising  the  Western  division  was 
only  4,091,349,  or  5.37  per  cent  of  the  total  for  the  continental 
United  States.  Though  the  movement  of  population  westward  has 
been  very  rapid  since  the  census  of  1900  was  taken,  the  public  lands, 
the  large  holdings  capable  of  being  subdivided  and  more  fully  utilized, 
the  mines,  smelters,  lumber  mills,  fisheries,  and  general  construction 
work  present  a  demand  for  a  much  larger  population  than  any  of 
these  States  now  has.  One  problem  has  been  to  settle  the  country 
more  fully  and  to  meet  the  demand  for  labor.  Another  has  been 
presented  by  the  immigration  of  certain  races  which  have  arrived 
at  Pacific  coast  ports.  The  importance  of  the  one  is  indicated  by 
the  activity  of  promotion  committees  at  work  in  the  Middle  West 
and  East  in  an  effort  to  induce  a  larger  movement  of  population 
west  and  the  "recruiting''  of  laborers  practiced  by  railway  companies, 
general  contractors,  beet-sugar  companies,  operators  of  mines  and 
smelters,  and,  in  sporadic  cases,  by  California  fruit  growers.  The 
importance  of  the  other  has  made  itself  apparent  in  the  general 
insistence  upon  the  exclusion  of  laborers  of  certain  races,  which  is 
already  largely  an  accomplished  fact. 

(7) 


8 

In  1900,  846,321,  or  20.7  per  cent,  of  the  4,091,349  persons  reported 
by  the  census  as  living  in  the  1 1  States  and  Territories  of  the  Western 
division,  were  foreign-born.  Two  per  cent  of  the  population  and 
about  one-tenth  of  the  foreign-born  had  immigrated  from  Asia. 
About  one-eighth  of  the  total  population  and  more  than  three-fifths 
of  the  foreign-born  had  immigrated  from  north  European  countries, 
the  Germans  with  135,459,  the  English  with  102,656,  the  Irish  with 
83,532,  and  the  Swedes,  Norwegians,  and  Danes  with  116,175  being 
the  most  conspicuous  elements.  Some  89,800  immigrants  from 
Canada,  or  2.2  per  cent  of  the  population,  may  be  added  to  this 
group  as  being  largely  of  the  same  stock.  Beside  these,  there 
were  107,860  who  had  immigrated  from  south  and  east  European 
countries,  forming  2.6  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  Western  divi 
sion.  Among  the  latter  the  Italians  were  the  most  numerous,  fol 
lowed  by  the  various  races  of  Austria,  the  Finns,  and  the  Portuguese. 
Finally,  29,579  Mexicans  had  found  a  place  in  the  population,  con 
stituting  0.7  per  cent  of  the  whole.  The  table  which  follows  shows 
the  population  of  each  State  of  the  Western  division,  and  of  the 
continental  United  States,  in  1900,  together  with  the  total  number 
of  foreign-born  and  the  number  of  the  same  born  in  each  specified 
country,  and  the  percentage  of  each  nationality  in  the  United  States 
residing  in  the  Western  division.  The  countries  from  which  the 
immigration  has  been  small  are  not  included  in  the  table. 


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10. 

The  more  important  changes  in  the  population  since  1900  have 
been  incidental  to — 

(1)  A  rapid  influx  from  1900  to  1907  of  Japanese   (with  a  few 
Koreans)  from  Japan  or  Hawaii,  or  both,  until  the  number  of  that 

.race  now  residing  in  the  Western  division  is  in  excess  of  90,000,  more 
than  one-half  of  whom  are  in  California  and  one-sixth  in  Washington ; 

(2)  A  diminishing  number  of  Chinese,  their  decline  being  due  to 
the  exclusion  law  and  a  tendency  exhibited  by  the  members  of  that 
race  to  move  to  the  eastern  cities; 

(3)  An  influx  of   Mexicans   continued  until   the   number  in  the 
Western  States  has  increased  several  fold; 

(4)  A  continued  influx  of  English,  Scandinavians,  and  other  north 
Europeans,  in  part  a  direct  immigration,  in  part  a  westward  movement 
of  industrial  workers  before  the  increasing  number  of  south  and  east 
Europeans  employed  in  industry  in  the  East,  and  in  part  a  westward 
movement  of  families,  generally  to  locate  on  farms; 

(5)  An  influx  of  immigrants  from  southern  and  eastern  European 
countries,  the  smaller  part  of  them,  except  in  the  case  of  the  ^North 
Italians,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Dalmatians,  coming  directly  from 
their  native  land,  much  the  larger  number  coming  from  the  States 
in  the  East  to  engage  in  common  or  semiskilled  labor  on  the  railways, 
in  the  mines   and  smelters,   and  other  industries  in  which  much 
unskilled  labor  is  required  and  in  which  laborers  are  employed  in 
large  numbers. 

The  percentage  of  the  immigrants  of  each  race,  save  the  Japanese, 
arriving  in  the  United  States  between  July  1,  1900,  and  June  30, 
1909,  who  gave  some  State  of  the  Western  division  as  their  desti 
nation,  is  shown  in  the  following  table.  The  Japanese  who  arrived 
are  not  given,  for  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immi 
gration  do  not  include  those  who  have  come  to  the  mainland  from 
the  Hawaiian  Islands.  More  than  90  per  cent  of  them  have  remained 
in  the  Western  division.  The  number  of  Chinese  destined  to  the 
Western  division  of  States,  as  given  below,  is  much  too  small,  but 
correct  data  in  this  regard  are  not  available  for  the  reason  that  during 
the  first  three  years  of  the  period  under  consideration  the  Bureau  of 
Immigration  did  not  record  the  destination  of  Chinese  entering  the 
United  States  at  the  port  of  San  Francisco.  It  should  be  added, 
also,  that  the  figure  given  for  Mexicans  is  not  complete,  for  the  reason 
that  until  1908  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  did  not  record  the  number 
of  Mexican  immigrants  entering  the  United  States  overland.  There 
fore,  the  number  admitted  and  the  number  destined  to  the  Western 
division  of  States,  during  the  period  considered,  are  both  too  low. 


11 


TABLE  2. — Immigrants  entering  continental  United  States  during  the  years  1901  to  1909 , 

inclusive,  'by  race. 

[Compiled  from  reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration,  1901-1909.] 


Race. 

Total 
number 
entering 
continental 
United 
States, 
1901  to  1909. 

Number 
giving 
Western 
division  as 
destina 
tion. 

Per  cent 
giving 
Western 
division  as 
destina 
tion. 

Armenian       ..                    

19,  333 

769 

4.0 

Bohemian  and  Moravian 

86  132 

1  454 

1  7 

Bulgarian,  Servian,  and  Montenegrin  

81,958 

4,  206 

5.1 

Chinese 

15  149 

8  804 

58.1 

Croatian  and  Slovenian  

270,  157 

16,908 

6.3 

Dalmatian,  Bosnian,  and  Herzegovinian 

25,  739 

5,959 

23.2 

Dutch  and  Flemish  

69,  934 

4,190 

6.0 

East  Indian             

3,843 

2,908 

75  7 

English 

332  113 

44  179 

13  3 

Finnish  

117,311 

11,503 

9.8 

French 

89  566 

12,415 

13  9 

German  

626,256 

35,910 

5.7 

Greek 

171,648 

9,290 

5  4 

Hebrew  .  .  . 

891,995 

5,461 

.6 

Irish... 

333,  335 

15,234 

4.6 

Italian  North 

311  303 

66  098 

21  2 

Italian,  South  

1,568,914 

°9,906 

1.9 

Lithuanian 

135  37'? 

484 

4 

Magyar  

291,370 

963 

.3 

Mexican 

93  083 

a  4  492 

19  0 

Polish  

745,  306 

2,990 

.4 

Portuguese 

56  301 

8  763 

15.6 

Roumanian  

68,011 

352 

.5 

Russian 

63,  257 

4,390 

6.9 

Ruthenian 

115  °36 

408 

4 

Scandinavian  .                    ... 

477,860 

51,818 

10.8 

Scotch 

108  38° 

13  456 

12  4 

Slovak  

300,  027 

1,976 

.7 

Spanish 

36  108 

7,383 

20  4 

Syrian  

43.  560 

790 

1.8 

Turkish 

11  433 

195 

1.7 

Welsh  

16,376 

1  ,  655 

10  1 

a  17,486  Mexicans  were  recorded  as  destined  to  Texas  during  the  period  considered. 
SCOPE    AND    METHOD   OF   INVESTIGATION. 

The  investigation  conducted  by  the  Commission  in  the  West  was 
planned  to  include  (1)  a  study  of  the  industrial  and  social  conditions 
of  immigrants  in  the  more  important  industries,  (2)  a  study  of 
selected  immigrant  races  in  some  of  the  larger  cities,  (3)  a  special 
study  of  agricultural  laborers  and  of  immigrant  farmers,  and  (4)  a 
detailed  examination  of  Japanese,  Korean  and  East  Indian  immi 
gration  in  its  various  phases,  the  emphasis  to  be  placed  upon  the 
last  named  because  it  presents  a  problem  peculiar  to  the  Pacific  coast 
and  with  reference  to  which  the  fullest  possible  information  was  to 
be  desired.  No  special  investigation  of  Chinese  immigration  was 
planned.  Most  of  the  Chinese  now  in  the  United  States  have  resided 
here  so  long  and  have  lived  and  worked  under  such  conditions  that  an 
investigation  of  them  along  the  lines  adopted  for  other  races  would 
not  show  the  effects  of  a  free  or  of  a  restricted  immigration,  nor  would 
the  data  be  comparable  with  those  collected  for  other  races.  The 
difficulties  involved  in  ,the  administration  of  the  exclusion  law  have 
been  so  great  that  the  Chinese  laborers  were  very  suspicious  of  the 
motives  of  the  Commission's  agents  so  that  it  was  found  difficult  in 
most  places  to  secure  any  data  of  value  from  them.  The  slight 


12 

investigation  made  of  Chinese  immigration  was,  therefore,  purely 
incidental  to  the  investigation  of  industries  in  which  they  are  or  have 
been  employed. 

The  most  important  industries  of  the  West  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  number  of  men  and  especially  the  number  of  immigrants 
employed,  are  steam  railroad  transportation,  with  a  probable  total 
of  75,000  employees;  metalliferous  mining  and  smelting,  with  a  total 
of  between  125,000  and  150,000;  coal  mining,  with  a  total  of  more  than 
36,000  in  1908;  the  lumber  industry,  with  57,657  in  1905;  electric  rail 
way  transportation,  with  almost  20,000  in  1907;  general  construction 
work,  the  growing  of  sugar  beets  and  manufacture  of  beet  sugar,  and 
hop,  fruit,  and  vegetable  growing,  especially  in  California,  with  their 
allied  industries ;  and  the  fishing  industry  of  the  Northwestern  States 
and  Alaska.  These  industries,  together  with  others  of  less  importance 
but  which  were  of  interest  in  connection  with  certain  phases  of  the 
problem,  have  been  investigated.  The  investigation  included  the 
collection  of  individual  schedules  from  the  employees  of  the  selected 
establishments ;  the  testimony  of  employers,  foremen,  and  others  with 
reference  to  certain  points ;  and  pay  rolls  in  so  far  as  such  data  would 
supplement  those  obtained  in  other  ways,  and  where  the  pay  rolls 
were  in  such  form  that  they  would  be  suitable  for  tabulation.  The 
industries  investigated,  the  total  number  of  persons  for  whom  sched 
ules  were  obtained,  and  the  number  of  each  race,  by  sex  and  nativity, 
in  each  industry  upon  which  a  special  report  is  submitted,  as  well  as 
the  length  of  residence  in  the  United  States  of  employees,  are  shown 
in  tbp  tables  following. 


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TAB^E  $.*-*Totat  number  of  employees  for  whom  information  was  secured,  by  sex  and  general  nativity  and  race  and  by  industry—  Continued. 

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21 

TABLE  4. — Number  and  per  cent  of  employees  of  each  race  for  whom  information  was 

secured,  by  sex 


General  nativity  and  race. 

Number. 

Per  cent  of  total. 

Male. 

Female. 

Total. 

Male. 

Female. 

Total. 

Native-born  of  native  father: 
White 

17,  701 

352 
101 

12 
131 
32 
19 
1 
645 
8 
67 
2 
192 
1,545 
14 
179 
2,007 
3 
2 
1 
2,266 
188 
1 
1 

1,523 
20 
54 

4 

20 

18 
4 

19,  224 
372 
155 

16 
151 
50 
23 
1 
686 
13 
67 
2 
214 
1,612 
14 
218 
2,240 
3 
2 
1 
2,514 
414 
1 
1 
1 
291 
49 
214 
1 
2 
263 
65 
572 
29 
324 
136 
1 
9 
242 
6 
3 
3 

1 
172 

160 
81 
126 
182 
1,432 
670 
1,488 
6 
672 
447 
123 
395 
3,376 
11 
804 
29 
404 
2,385 
2,573 
3 
18 
15 
298 
8 
3,213 
4,887 
2,318 
3 
8,441 
216 
86 

23.3 
.5 
.1 

.2 

(a)' 
.1 
(a) 
.3 
2.0 

(0) 

.2 
2.6 
(a) 
(a) 
(a) 
3.0 
.2 
(a) 
(a) 
.0 
.3 
.1 
.3 
(a) 
(a) 
.2 
.1 
.7 
(a) 

'.2 

(a) 

«.3 

(0) 

(a) 
(a) 

'.2 
.1 
.2 
.2 
1.8 
.9 
2.0 
(a) 
.9 
.6 
.2 
.5 
4.4 
(a) 
1.1 
(a) 
.5 
2.7 
3.4 
(a) 

w 

(a)' 
4.1 
5.9 
2.7 
(a) 
11.0 
.3 
.1 

31.2 
.4 
1.1 

.1 
.4 
.4 
.1 
.0 
.8 
.1 
.0 
.0 
.5 
1.4 
.0 
.8 
4.8 
.0 
.0 
.0 
5.1 
4.6 
.0 
.0 
(a) 
.6 
.1 
.3 
.0 
.0 
2.5 
.2 
.5 
.2 
.3 
.4 
.0 
.1 
.1 
.1 
.0 
(a) 

.0 
1.9 

.'l 
.7 
(a) 
.1 
(a) 
(a) 
.3 
.0 
.0 
1.2 
.0 
.0 
(a) 
1.1 
6.2 
.1 
.0 

(0) 

L6 
8.8 
6.0 
.0 
2.3 
(•) 
.0 

23.8 
.5 
.2 

!l 
(a) 
(a) 
.9 
(a) 

(a) 

2!') 
(a) 
.3 

(°)  "  " 
(a) 
(a) 
3.1 

(a) 
(a) 
.4 
.1 
.3 

(a) 
.3 
.1 
.7 

.4 
.2 

(«) 
(a)    " 
(a) 

\2 
.1 
.2 
.2 
1.8 
.8 
1.8 

!e 

.2 
.5 
4.2 
(a) 
1.0 

W.5 
3.0 
2.9 

(a) 

.4 
(a) 
4.0 
6.1 
2.9 
(a) 
10.5 
.3 
.1 

Negro  

Indian 

Native-born  of  foreign  father,  by  country 
of  birth  of  father: 
Australia 

Austria-Hungary  

Azores 

Belgium  

Brazil 

Canada  

41 
5 

Chili                .... 

China 

Cuba          

Denmark 

22 

67 

England  

Finland 

France        

39 
233 

Germany 

Greece  

Hawaii         

Iceland 

Ireland           

248 
226 

Italy 

Japan           

Korea 

Madeira  Islands  

1 
29 
3 
13 

Mexico 

262 
46 
201 

141 
53 
546 
21 
308 
116 
1 
4 
239 
3 
3 
2 

1 

81 
156 
79 
126 
177 
1,398 
669 
1,484 
5 
670 
434 
123 
395 
3,319 
11 
804 
27 
348 
2,084 
2,570 
3 
16 
12 
296 
8 
3,  136 
4,459 
2,027 
3 
8,327 
214 
86 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Panama  

Peru 

Portugal  

122 
12 
26 
8 
16 
20 

Russia          .... 

Scotland 

Spain           

Sweden 

Switzerland  .   . 

Trinidad 

Turkey  

5 
3 
3 

Wales 

West  Indies  (other  than  Cuba)  

Africa  (country  not  specified) 

South  America  (country  not  specified). 
Foreign-born,  by  race: 
Arabian 

1 

Armenian  

91 
4 
2 

Bohemian  and  Moravian 

Bosnian  

Bulgarian 

Canadian,  French  

5 
34 
1 
4 
1 
2 
13 

Canadian,  Other  

Chinese 

Croatian  

Cuban 

Dalmatian  

Danish 

Dutch  r  

East  Indian    

English 

57 

Filipino  

Finnish 

Flemish  

2 
56 
301 
3 

French  

German 

Greek  

Hawaiian 

Hebrew,  Russian 

2 
3 
2 

"77' 

428 
291 

Hebrew,  Other  

Herzegovinian 

Icelander  .  .  . 

Irish.. 

Italian,  North 

Italian,  South  

Italian  (not  specified)  . 

Japanese 

114 

2 

Korean  

Lithuanian  .  .  . 

Less  than  0.05  per  cent. 


22 


TABLE  4. — Number  and  per  cent  of  employees  of  each  race  for  whom  information  was 

secured,  by  sex — Continued. 


General  nativity  and  race. 

Number. 

Per  cent  of  total. 

Male. 

Female. 

Total. 

Male. 

Female. 

Total. 

Foreign-born,  by  race—  Continued. 

27 
210 
6,154 
410 
3 
1,029 
3 
429 
581 
41 
378 
25 
760 
14 
107 
468 
1,180 
269 
1,756 
26 
93 
407 
16 
4 
397 
8 
12 
56 

27 
216 
6,248 
410 
3 
1,040 
3 
431 
915 
44 
421 
25 
787 
16 
107 
471 
1,191 
290 
1,778 
28 
93 
410 
30 
4 
398 
8 
12 
58 

(a) 
0.3 
8.1 
.5 
(a) 
1.4 

(°) 
.6 
.8 
.1 
.  5 

(«) 
1.0 

W.l 

.6 
1.6 
.4 
2,3 

(o) 

.0 

(«) 

(a) 
.5 

(<0 

(a) 
.1 

0.0 
.1 
1.9 
.0 
.0 
.2 
.0 
(«) 
6.8 
.1 
.9 
.0 
.6 

W.o 
.1 

_  2 

'.I 
.5 
(a) 
.0 
.1 
.3 
.0 

(0) 

.0 
.0 

(0) 

00 

0.3 

7.7 
.5 

«1.3 
W.5 

1.1 
.1 

.5 

(a) 
1.0 

w.i 

.6 
1.5 
.4 
2.2 

(a) 

(a)    " 
(°>.5 

«.l 

Magyar 

6 
94 

Mexican  .    ...          

Montenegrin                                      .  .  . 

Negro 

Norwegian                                   

11 

•  Persian 

Polish                                    

2 
334 
3 
43 

""~27~ 

2 

Portuguese 

Roumanian  .            

Russian                                                

Ruthenian  

Scotch                                               

Scotch-Irish 

Slovak 

3 
11 
21 

22 
2 

Slovenian             .        

Spanish 

Swedish  

Syrian 

Turkish 

Welsh                                         

3 
14 

i 

West  Indian  (other  than  Cuban)  
\ustralian  (race  not  specified)  

Austrian  (race  not  specified) 

South  American  (race  not  specified).  .  . 
Swiss  (race  not  specified)  

2 

Grand  total  

75,830 

4,882 

80,712 

100.0 

100.0 

100.0 

Total  native-born  of  foreign  father 

9,265 
27,419 
48,411 

1,189 
2,  786 
2,096 

10,454 
30,  205 
50,  507 

12.2 
36.2 
63.8 

24.4 
57.1 
42.9 

13.0 
37.4 
62.6 

Total  native-born  

Total  foreign-born 

o  Less  than  0.05  per  cent. 

TABLE  5. — Per  cent  of  foreign-born  employees  in  the  United  States  each  specified  number 

of  years,  by  sex  and  race. 

[By  years  in  the  United  States  is  meant  years  since  first  arrival  in  the  United  States.    No  deduction  is 
made  for  time  spent  abroad.    This  table  includes  in  each  section  only  races  with  80  or  more  reporting.    The 


totals,  however,  are  for  all  races.] 


MALE. 


Number 

Race. 

reporting 
complete 
data. 

Under 
1. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5  to  9. 

10  to 

14. 

15  to 

19. 

20  or 
over. 

Armenian                                  .  .  . 

80 

11.3 

15.0 

7.5 

10.0 

12.5 

23.8 

15.0 

2.5 

2.5 

Bohemian  and  Moravian  

156 

2.6 

3.8 

13.5 

17.9 

7.1 

18.6 

9.0 

7.7 

19.9 

Bulgarian                                 

126 

1.6 

42.9 

31.7 

7.9 

4.0 

7.9 

2.4 

.8 

.8 

Canadian  French 

175 

1.1 

1.1 

1.7 

.0 

1.1 

6.9 

10.3 

17.7 

60.0 

Canadian,  Other  

1,388 

1.9 

2.7 

3.5 

3.4 

1.8 

12.9 

11.7 

12.2 

49.9 

Chinese 

628 

.5 

.6 

.6 

.0 

.2 

1.6 

2.4 

3.2 

90.9 

Croatian  

1,484 

1.6 

5.2 

11.9 

13.1 

8.6 

35.4 

11.1 

8.0 

5.1 

Dalmatian 

670 

1.3 

10.3 

26.9 

15.2 

10.9 

23.4 

5.4 

2.7 

3.9 

Danish 

433 

.9 

2.3 

4.8 

3.5 

6.5 

14.1 

6.7 

16.4 

44.8 

Dutch                                  

122 

4.9 

4.9 

11.5 

7.4 

13.1 

14.8 

10.7 

9.8 

23.0 

East  Indian 

394 

5.1 

26.4 

47.7 

18.8 

1.5 

.0 

.0 

.0 

.5 

English..               

3,304 

2.7 

5.9 

8.7 

5.7 

4.5 

12.1 

6.5 

9.9 

44.1 

Finnish 

803 

1.9 

2.4 

7.7 

7.1 

7.8 

30.3 

14.3 

14.6 

13.9 

French  

347 

3.5 

6.3 

6.1 

5.2 

4.9 

22.8 

8.4 

12.1 

30.8 

German                        

2,081 

1.8 

5.0 

6.2 

3.7 

2.7 

14.4 

5.3 

11.5 

49.4 

Greek 

2,558 

2.4 

17.8 

29.4 

19.5 

10.6 

18.9 

.8 

.2 

.4 

Herzegovinian  

294 

3.1 

12.2 

24.1 

23.1 

11.6 

20.1 

3.4 

1.0 

1.4 

Irish                                              .  . 

3,125 

1.3 

3.4 

6.7 

4.8 

5.3 

15.1 

10.9 

10.0 

42.4 

Italian  North 

4,451 

3.2 

10.0 

18.8 

13.3 

9.1 

25.9 

7.9 

5.7 

6.1 

Italian,  South..           

2,025 

2.9 

8.7 

16.5 

12.7 

8.9 

29.7 

9.2 

6.8 

4.6 

Japanese 

8,314 

.9 

5.3 

12.9 

22.9 

15.7 

33.4 

7.7 

1.0 

.2 

Korean  „  

214 

.0 

.9 

9.3 

35.5 

34.1 

19.2 

.0 

.0 

.9 

Lithuanian  .  .  . 

86 

1.2 

1.2 

3.5 

8.1 

3.5 

40.7 

12.8 

15.1 

14.0 

23 


TABLE  5. — Per  cent  of  foreign-born  employees  in  the  United  States  each  specified  number 
of  years,  by  sex  and  race — Continued. 


MALE— Continued. 


Race. 

Number 
reporting 
complete 
data. 

Per  cent  in  United  States  each  specified  number  of  years. 

Under 

1.     i     2. 

; 

3. 

4. 

5  to  9. 

10  to 
14. 

15  to 

19. 

20  or 
over. 

Magyar 

210 
6,115 
409 
1,027 
427 
581 
377 
757 
106 
467 
1,180 
269 
1  752 

1.9 
14.2 

2^0 
2.8 
1.0 
10.3 
2.9 
1.9 
1.7 
3.2 
(i.3 
1.1 
1.1 
1.5 

6.  2  |     9.  5 
11.8     14.3 
6.  6     30.  1 
7.0     11.4 
5.2     11.9 
8.  6  !  10.  2 
18.8  i  17.8 
4.4       8.2 
8.  5  !  22.  6 
6.4  !     9.9 
3.5     13.2 
32.  7     24.  2 
4.3  ,     5.1 
16.1  ;  54.8 
4.9       7.6 

14.3 
11.2 
31.5 
8.1 
16.4 
6.4 
9.5 
4.5 
11.3 
4.7 
10.9 
7.1 
3.8 
14.0 
3.7 

10.5 
7.3 
13.4 
5.6 

8.7 
6.5 
4.0 
3.7 
7.5 
4.7 
9.2 
5.6 
3.8 
7.5 
4.9 

33.8 
24.3 
16.4 
22.6 
25.1 
22.5 
20.7 
12.2 
33.0 
25.5 
31.0 
13.4 
19.8 
6.5 
7.9 

8.6 
8.2 
.5 
5.6 
10.5 
9.1 
6.9 
5.2 
5.7 
13.5 
12.7 
3.3 
7.1 
.0 
3.4 

8.6 
4.4 
.5 
9.0 
9.4 
10.5 
5.8 
8.3 
7.5 
10.7 
9.3 
3.0 
15.3 
.0 
6.6 

6.7 

4.  a 

.2 
28.  8- 
10.) 
25.1 
6.1 
50.7 
1.9 
22.9 
6.9- 
4.5 
39.8- 
.0 
59.5 

Mexican     .   . 

Montenegrin 

Norwegian 

Polish  

Portuguese 

Russian  

Scotch 

Servian  

Slovak 

Slovenian..        .                       

Spanish 

Turkish 

93 

407 

Welsh.  .. 

Total  

48,229         3.ti       7.8     13.5 

12.2 

8.3 

22.9 

7.6 

6.4 

17.8 

FEMALE. 


Armenian 

91 

14  3 

7  7 

4  4 

12  1 

8  8 

37  4 

12  1 

2  2 

1  i 

German 

300 

2.3 

17.0 

12.7 

1.7 

2.3 

28.3 

9.3 

10.7 

15.7 

Italian   North 

426 

7  3 

15  5 

11  0 

9  2 

6  3 

°6  1 

8  0 

7  3 

9  4 

Italian,  South  . 

291 

2.4 

12.0 

9  6 

6.9 

6.5 

31  6 

14  8 

10  0 

6  2 

Japanese  
Mexican 

114 

93 

15.8 
1.1 

7.9 
1.1 

16.7 

8  6 

29.8 
7.5 

14.0 
6  5 

9.6 
41  9 

3.5 
11  8 

1.8 
9  7 

.9 
11  8. 

Portuguese  

334 

1.5 

10.5 

13.5 

12.3 

9.3 

25.4 

6.0 

8.4 

13.2 

Total  

2.08*1 

5.1 

11.4 

10.9 

8.7 

6.5 

25.3 

8.8 

9.0 

14.3; 

TOTAL. 


Armenian 

171 

12  9 

11  1 

5  8 

11  1 

10  5 

31  0 

13  5 

2  3 

1  8- 

Bohemian  and  Moravian  
Bosnian  

160 
80 

2.5 
12.5 

3.8 
21.3 

13.1 
35.0 

17.5 
7.5 

8.1 
5.0 

18.8 
11.3 

8.8 
1.3 

7.5 
1.3 

20.0 
5.0 

Bulgarian 

126 

1.6 

42.9 

31.7 

7.9 

4.0 

7  9 

2  4 

.8 

.8- 

Canadian,  French  

180 

1.1 

1.1 

1.7 

.0 

1.1 

6.7 

10.0 

17.8 

60.  f> 

Canadian,  Other 

1,421 

1  9 

2.8 

3.4 

3.3 

1  8 

12.9 

11.9 

12.5 

49.5 

Chinese  

629 

.5 

.8 

.6 

.0 

.2 

1.6 

2.4 

3.2 

90.  & 

Croatian 

1,488 

1.6 

5.2 

12.0 

13.0 

8  5 

35  3 

11  1 

7  9 

5.2 

Dalmatian  

672 

1.3 

10.3 

26.8 

15.3 

10.9 

23.5 

5.4 

2.7 

3.& 

Danish 

446 

1.1 

2.2 

4.7 

3  6 

6  3 

14  1 

6  5 

16  8 

44.6 

Dutch  

122 

4.9 

4.9 

11.5 

7.4 

13.1 

14.8 

10.7 

9.8 

23.0 

East  Indian        

394 

5.1 

26.4 

47.7 

18  8 

1  5 

0 

0 

0 

.5 

English  

3,360 

2.6 

5.8 

8.7 

5.6 

4.5 

12.0 

6.6 

10.1 

44.  0 

Finnish 

803 

1.9 

2.4 

7.7 

7  l 

7.8 

30  3 

14  3 

14.6 

13.  & 

French  

403 

3.5 

6.5 

8.2 

5.5 

5.5 

22.1 

8.9 

11.4 

28.5 

German 

2,381 

1  9 

6.5 

7.1 

3.5 

2.6 

16  1 

5.8 

11.4 

45.1 

Greek  

2,561 

2.4 

17.8 

29.4 

19.4 

10.5 

18.9 

.9 

.2 

.4 

Herzegovinian 

296 

3.0 

12.2 

24.0 

23  0 

11  5 

20  3 

3  4 

1.0 

1.7 

3,198 

1.3 

3.3 

6.7 

4.7 

5.2 

15.0 

10.8 

10.1 

42.9- 

Italian,  North 

4.877 

3.5 

10.5 

18.1 

12.9 

8.9 

25  9 

7.9 

5.9 

6.4 

Italian  South 

2  316 

2  8 

9  1 

15  6 

12  0 

8  6 

30  0 

9  9 

7  2 

4  8 

Japanese 

8,428 

1.1 

5.3 

12.9 

23.0 

15.7 

33.1 

7.7 

1.0 

.2 

Korean  

216 

.0 

.9 

10.2 

35.2 

33.8 

19.0 

.0 

.0 

.9 

Lithuanian 

86 

1.2 

1.2 

3.5 

8.1 

3.5 

40.7 

12.8 

15.1 

14.0 

Magvar  

216 

2.3 

6.0 

9.7 

13.9 

10.6 

33.8 

8.8 

8.3 

6.5 

Mexican  .    .    . 

6.  208 

14.0 

11.7 

14.2 

11.1 

7.3 

24.5 

8.2 

4.4 

4.4 

Montenegrin  

409 

.7 

6.6 

30.1 

31.5 

13.4 

16.4 

5 

.5 

.2 

Norwegian  . 

1.038 

2.0 

6.9 

11.3 

8.0 

5.5 

22.7 

5.5 

9.1 

29.  0 

Polish 

429 

2  8 

5.4 

11.9 

16.3 

8  6 

24  9 

10  5 

9  3 

10.3 

Portuguese.  . 

915 

1.2 

9.3 

11.4 

8.5 

7.5 

23.6 

8.0 

9.7 

20.  & 

Russian 

420 

10.0 

19.8 

17.9 

11.2 

4  5 

19  3 

6.2 

5  7 

5.5 

Scotch  .  .  . 

784 

2.9 

4.5 

8.2 

4.3 

3.8 

12.0 

51 

8.7 

50.5 

Servian 

106 

1.9 

8.5 

22.6 

11.3 

7.5 

33.0 

5.7 

7.5 

1.9 

Slovak  
Slovenian 

470 
1.191 

1.7 
3.2 

6.8 
3.7 

9.8 
13.2 

4.7 
11.1 

4.7 
9.1 

25.3 
31.1 

13.4 

12.6 

10.6 
9.2 

23.0 
6.  fV 

Spanish  

Swedish 

290 
1,774 

10.0 
1.1 

30.7 
4.3 

22.4 
5.0 

6.6 
3.7 

5.5 
3.8 

13.8 
19.8 

3.1 

7.2 

3.1 
15.2 

4.8' 
39.8 

Turkish.  .  . 

93 

1.1 

16.1 

54.8 

14.0 

7.5 

6.5 

.0 

.0 

.O 

Welsh   ...     . 

410 

1.5 

5.1 

7.6 

3.7 

4.9 

8.0 

3  7 

6.6 

59.  0 

Total  

50,  31  5 

3.7 

7.9 

13.4 

12.0 

8.3 

23.0 

7.6 

6.5 

17.6 

24 

The  investigation  of  agriculture  as  planned  embraced  a  study  of 
farmers  of  different  races  in  California,  Oregon,  Washington,  Colo 
rado,  and  Utah,  of  Mexicans  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  and  of 
•agricultural  labor  in  intensive  farming.  The  investigation  of  agri 
cultural  labor  embraced  a  study  of  sugar-beet  growing  in  all  of  the 
Western  States  in  which  the  industry  finds  a  place,  the  growing  of 
liops  in  California  and  Oregon ,  and  the  growing  of  different  kinds  of 
fruits,  vegetables,  and  grapes  in  California,  together  with  the  closely 
Dallied  packing,  canning,  and  wine-making  industries.  In  general,  the 
methods  used  were  the  same  as  in  the  investigation  of  the  various 
industries  before  mentioned  except  that  it  was  necessary  to  place 
more  emphasis  uj>on  the  collection  of  data  from  other  sources  and  less 
Tipon  the  collection  of  personal  schedules  from  laborers.  However, 
individual  schedules  were  obtained  from  9,846  agricultural  laborers, 
principally  in  California,  while  more  detailed  schedules  were  ob 
tained  from  733  others.  With  the  exception  of  beet  sugar,  no 
•effort  was  made  to  cover  an  industry  in  its  entirety,  but  localities  in 
which  the  best  opportunities  for  the  study  of  immigration  were 
offered  were  selected  for  careful  investigation. 

The  original  plans  of  the  commission  included  a  study  of  immi 
grant  families  in  several  cities  in  the  Western  division  of  States,  but 
the  inquiry  was  finally  limited  to  Los  Angeles,  and  a  report  based 
<upon  investigations  in  that  city  is  submitted. 

The  investigation  of  immigrant  farming  was  limited  to  the  Japanese 
and  a  few  other  races  the  members  of  which  were  farming  in  the  same 
communities  and  to  some  extent  competing  with  the  Japanese. 
'Schedules  showing  detailed  information  were  secured  from  856  house 
holds  engaged  in  farming,  and  in  addition  data  were  gathered  from 
other  sources  in  the  community  and  presented  in  special  reports  made 
by  the  field  agents.  The  number  of  localities  in  which  immigrant 
farming  was  investigated  and  the  number  of  schedules  taken  in  each 
-are  shown,  by  race  of  the  farmer,  in  the  table  following. 


TABLE  6. — Number  of  households  studied  in    selected  farming  localities  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  Rocky  Mountain  States,  by  general  nativity  and  race  of  head  of  household. 


General  nativity 
and  race  of  head 
of  household. 

I  Total  number  of  households. 

California. 

Northern  Colorado. 

g 

3 

V 

fc 

1 
of 

I 

•O 
® 

•s 

| 

c* 
C 

|  Northern  Utah. 

Fresno  County. 

Lower  Sacramento  and  San 
Joaquin  rivers  district. 

Los  Angeles  County. 

Florin  district. 

Newcastle  district  . 
Pajaro  Valley. 

About  Alviso  and  Agnew. 

About  Sacramento. 

Sonoma  County. 

San  Francisco  County. 

Santa  Clara  County. 

San  Luis  Obispo  County. 

1 

O 

1 

About  San  Leandro. 

Native-born    of 
foreign    f  a  - 
ther,byrace 
of  father: 
D  anish 

1    .... 

"q" 

German 

9 

/ 

Italian  South 

1 

1 

Norwegian 

1 

1 

Portuguese  — 
Swedish 

1    . 

2  ' 

1 

9 

Foreign-born: 
Armenian  
Danish  

17     17 
4fi     25 
46 

i 

14 

4 

3    . 

] 

32 

14 

German-  Rus 
sian  i.. 
Italian,  North. 
Italian,  South. 
Japanese 

31 
88" 

26 
490 
11 
55 

37 

'97" 

14 

7 

15 

24 

7 
4 
53 
10 

8 

22 

34 

128 

68 

25 

55 

20 

20     17 

30 

19 

15 

Norwegian  
Portuguese 

1 

?0 

1 

3f> 

Swedish 

31 

1 

....      4     21 

6 

Total  

j 

27 

15 

856     93 

175 

68 

25  I  55 

20 

20 

24 

15 

24     20     28 

41 

36 

50 

23 

97 

The  investigation  covered  all  of  the  industries  in  which  Japanese 
and  East  Indians  have  in  any  considerable  number  found  employ 
ment.  It  included  an  investigation  of  Japanese  farming  in  all  of 
the  States  in  which  many  of  that  race  are  occupied  and  of  Japanese 
business  in  eleven  cities.  In  investigating  Japanese  business,  data 
as  to  households  and  families  were  collected,  together  with  informa 
tion  regarding  the  business  conducted,  such  as  the  amount  of  capital 
employed,  the  approximate  value  of  annual  transactions,  the  rental 
value  of  the  property  occupied,  the  number,  occupations,  races,  and 
wages  of  employees,  the  provision  made  for  boarding  and  lodging 
employees,  patronage  by  white  and  oriental  races,  and,  if  in  mer 
cantile  trade,  the  proportions  of  oriental  and  other  products  dealt  in. 
These  schedules  were  collected  in  six  cities  where  the  number  of  Jap 
anese  in  business  was  sufficiently  large  to  warrant  it,  and  in  collecting 
schedules  an  effort  was  made  to  secure  them  from  representative  per 
sons.  As  much  supplementary  information  as  possible  was  obtained, 
and  the  business  inquiries  were  made  of  a  few  members  of  other  races 
engaged  in  branches  of  business  in  which  Japanese  competition  had 
been  keenly  felt.  From  395  of  the  3,000  or  more  East  Indians  indi 
vidual  schedules  were  obtained,  and  24  groups  containing  79  laborers 
of  that  race  have  been  studied  in  detail.  Of  the  90,000  or  more  Jap 
anese,  8,442  laborers  were  studied  by  means  of  individual  schedules; 
family  schedules  were  obtained  for  360  groups  of  wage-earners  in 
cities  and  those  engaged  in  independent  business,  for  530  households 


26 

of  farmers,  their  partners,  and'  farm  laborers  employed  by  them,  and 
for  45  groups  of  laborers  working  in  coal  mines  or  lumber  mills,  and 
as  section  hands.  In  addition  to  this  material,  information  from 
individual  and  family  schedules  for  1,517  foreign-born  Japanese,  not 
included  in  connection  with  other  reports,  was  used  in  discussing 
several  features  in  the  general  summary  of  Japanese  in  the  Western 
States. 

The  number  of  individual  schedules  collected  and  tabulated  in 
connection  with  the  various  reports  is  shown  in  Table  3  (p.  13).  The 
number  of  household  groups  for  which  schedules  were  obtained, 
together  with  the  number  of  persons  in  these  households,  is  shown  in 
the  following  tables: 

TABLE  7. — Number  of  households  studied,  by  general  nativity  and  race  of  head  of  house 
hold,  and  by  occupation. 


General  nativity  and  race  of  head  of  household. 

Total  num 
ber  of 
households. 

1 

? 

J 

2 

17 
46 
28 
30 
209 
31 
175 
209 
125 
890 
37 
11 
87 
27 
28 
31 

Number  where  head  of 
household  is  — 

Fanner  or 
farm 
laborer. 

In  business 
for  self  or 
wage-earner 
in  city. 

Native-born  of  foreign  father,  by  race  of  father: 
Danish  .                                                    

1 

? 
! 

2 

17 
46 

German 

Norwegian                                                                        .             ... 

Portuguese 

Swedish                                                                                        

Foreign-born: 

Danish  
Finnish 

'"28 
30 
163 

French                                 .   .   .          

"'46' 
31 

"'92' 
59 
530 

German 

German-Russian  

Hebrew                                                                                       

175 
117 
66 
360 
37 

Italian  North 

Italian,  South  ..                          .                       

Japanese 

Mexican 

Norwegian                                                                               .   .  . 

11 
55 

Portuguese 

32 
27 

28 

Russian                                                     

Slovenian 

§i~ 

Swedish 

Total 

ol,996 

933 

1,063 

a  In  addition  to  this  number  a  study  has  been  made  of  24  groups  of  East  Indian  laborers  in  lumber  trails 
and  -rope  factories,  and  of  45  groups  of  Japanese  (5  groups  of  coal  miners,  13  groups  of  railroad  laborers,  and 
27  groups  of  laborers  in  lumber  mills). 


.27 


28 


n3     * 

|1 

Is 

I  fl  «3 


m 


29 

The  results  of  the  western  investigation  are  submitted  in  a  number 
of  reports,  the  titles  of  which  are  shown  in  the  classified  list  presented 
below.  The  most  general  of  the  results  of  the  western  investigation 
are  briefly  stated  in  the  following  pages  of  this  report. 

JAPANESE  AND  EAST  INDIANS. 
Japanese. 

PART  I.  THE  JAPANESE  IMMIGRANTS  IN  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  AND  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN 

STATES. 

II.  THE  JAPANESE  IN  CITY  EMPLOYMENTS  AND  BUSINESS  IN  THE  PRINCIPAL  CITIES 
OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  AND  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  STATES. 
Introduction. 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
Sacramento,  Cal. 

State  of  Washington  (with  special  reference  to  Seattle). 
Portland,  Oreg. 
Denver,  Colo. 

Salt  Lake  City  and  Ogden,  Utah. 
State  of  Idaho. 

East  Indians. 

III.  THE  EAST  INDIANS  ON  THE  PACIFIC  COAST. 

AGRICULTURE. 

PART  I.  IMMIGRANT  LABOR  IN  AGRICULTURE  AND  ALLIED  INDUSTRIES  OF  THE  WESIV 
ERN  STATES. 

Immigrant  labor  in  California  agricultural  industries. 
Immigrant  labor  in  the  beet-sugar  industries  in  the  Western  States. 
Immigrant  labor  in  the  hop  industry  of  California  and  Oregon. 
Immigrant  labor  in  selected  agricultural  and  allied  industries  in  Calk 
fornia: 

Immigrant  labor  in  the  deciduous-fruit  industry  in  the  Vaca  Valley. 
Immigrant  labor  in  the  garden  and  deciduous-fruit  industries  of 

Santa  Clara  County. 

Immigrant  labor  in  the  orchards  about  Suisun. 
Immigrant  labor  in  the  citrus-fruit  industry. 
Immigrants  in  the  Newcastle  district. 
The  celery  industry  of  Orange  County. 
Immigrants  in  the  Imperial  Valley. 
Immigrant  labor  in  fruit  and  vegetable  canneries. 
The  wine-making  industry. 
II.  IMMIGRANT  FARMERS  IN  THE  WESTERN  STATES. 

Introduction:  Immigrant  farmers  in  the  Western  States. 
Immigrant  farming  in  selected  localities: 
California — 

Immigrant  farming  on  the  reclaimed  lands  of  the  Sacramento 

and  San  Joaquin  Rivers. 
Japanese  farmers  of  Los  Angeles  County. 

Japanese  tenant  and  landowning  farmers  of  the  Florin  district. 
Immigrants  in  the  fruit  industries  of  Newcastle  district. 
Japanese  farmers  in  the  Pajaro  Valley. 

Japanese  berry  growers  and  gardeners  about  Alviso  and  Agnews. 
Japanese  truck  gardeners  about  Sacramento,  with  comparisons 

with  the  Italians. 

North  Italian  farmers  of  Sonoma  County. 
Italian  vegetable  gardeners  of  San  Francisco  County. 
Scandinavian  farmers  in  Santa  Clara  County. 
Scandinavian  farmers  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County. 
German  and  German- American  farmers  of  Anaheim,   Orange 

County. 
Portuguese  farmers  about  San  Leandro. 


30 

I*ART  II.  IMMIGRANT  FARMERS  IN  THE  WESTERN  STATES — Continued. 
Immigrant  farming  in  selected  localities — Continued. 
Other  localities — 

Immigrant  farming  about  Seattle  and  Tacoma,  Wash. 
Japanese  and  Italian  farmers  in  Oregon. 
Japanese  and  German-Russian  farmers  of  northern  Colorado. 
South  Italian  truck  gardeners  near  Denver,  Colo. 
Japanese  farmers  of  northern  Utah. 
III.  IMMIGRANTS  IN  FRESNO  COUNTY,  CAL. 

DIVERSIFIED  INDUSTRIES. 

£ART  I.  IMMIGRANT  LABORERS  EMPLOYED  BY  STEAM  RAILWAY  COMPANIES  IN  THE 

PACIFIC  COAST  AND  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  STATES. 

II.  IMMIGRANT  LABORERS  EMPLOYED  BY  STREET  RAILWAY  COMPANIES  OPERAT 
ING  IN  THE  CITIES  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST  AND  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  STATES. 

III.  IMMIGRANT  LABOR  IN  THE  METALLIFEROUS  MINING,  SMELTING,  AND  REFINING 

INDUSTRY    OF   THE    WESTERN    STATES. 

IV.  IMMIGRANT  LABOR  IN  THE  COAL  AND  COKE  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  WESTERN  STATES. 
V.  IMMIGRANTS  IN  THE  LUMBER  AND  SHINGLE  INDUSTRIES  OF  OREGON  AND 

WASHINGTON. 

VI.  IMMIGRANT  LABOR  IN  OTHER  INDUSTRIES  IN  THE  WESTERN  STATES. 
Immigrant  labor  in  the  manufacture  of  cement. 
Salmon  canneries  on  the  Columbia  River  and  Puget  Sound. 
Immigrant  laborers  in  the  Alaskan  fish  canneries. 

Immigrant  labor  in  the  manufacture  of  cigars  and  cigarettes  in  San  Fran 
cisco,  Cal. 

Immigrant  labor  in  the  powder  factories  of  California. 
Immigrants  in  Los  Angeles. 

EUROPEAN    AND    CANADIAN    IMMIGRANTS. 

In  their  economic  and  social  positions  there  is  a  more  or  less  clearly 
defined  difference  between  the  immigrants  from  the  British  Isles, 
France,  Germany,  the  Scandinavian  countries,  and  Canada,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  those  from  the  south  and  east  European  countries  on 
the  other.  The  Mexicans,  the  Chinese,  Koreans  and  Japanese,  and 
the  East  Indians  constitute  three  distinct  groups.  The  smaller 
groups  from  western  Asia  also  stand  by  themselves.  It  seems  best 
to  deal  first  of  all  with  European  and  Canadian  immigration  and 
then  with  each  of  the  Asiatic  races  and  the  Mexicans  separately.  By 
so  doing  the  immigrant  races  which  are  found  almost  entirely  in  the 
Western  division  are  segregated  and  may  be  given  the  emphasis 
which  the  circumstances  demand. 

The  difference  between  the  north  European  and  Canadian  and 
the  south  and  east  European  groups  is  closely  connected  with  the 
fact  that  the  former  represents  the  older,  the  latter,  with  minor 
exceptions,  the  newer  immigration.  Many  Germans,  English,  Irish, 
Scotch,  Welsh,  and  English  Canadians,  and  a  smaller  number  of 
French  and  Scandinavians  were  among  the  earlier  settlers  of  the 
Western  States.  These  settlers  have  been  followed  by  others  who 
immigrated  directly,  and  frequently  as  families,  with  the  expectation 
of  becoming  permanent  residents,  and  by  still  others  who  have 
migrated  along  with  a  larger  number  of  natives  from  the  eastern  and 
middle  States.  With  the  exception  of  the  more  recent  non-English- 
speaking  immigrants  who  have  come  directly  to  the  Western  States 
very  little  and  no  essential  difference  is  found  between  these  north 
European  immigrants,  their  offspring,  and  the  Americans  born  of 


31 

native  father.  Here  and  there  colonies  of  Germans,  of  Swedes,  and 
of  Danes  are  found.  All  of  these  races  have  their  own  societies;  most 
of  them  exhibit  a  strong  tendency  to  progress  in  certain  directions — 
as  the  Scandinavians  from  industrial  occupations  to  farm  ownership, 
and  the  races  of  the  British  Isles  in  industry  and  trade — but  occupy 
the  same  industrial  and  economic  position  as  the  native-born.  They 
and  the  natives  constitute  the  great  majority  of  the  business  and 
salaried  classes  and  as  wage-earners  occupy  most  of  the  skilled  and 
better  remunerated  positions  in  industry.  The  less  capable  and 
steady  and  the  newer  immigrants  without  industrial  training  find  a 
place  as  unskilled  laborers. 

With  the  south  and  east  Europeans,  however,  the  situation  is  dif 
ferent,  particularly  where  the  majority  of  the  representatives  have 
immigrated  to  the  United  States  and  the  locality  within  recent  years. 
With  minor  exceptions,  which  are  becoming  more  numerous,  they 
occupy  lower  industrial,  economic,  and  social  positions  and  stand 
apart  from  the  natives  and  Americanized  north  Europeans,  who 
constitute  the  majority  of  the  population. 

In  the  industries  investigated  in  the  West  it  was  found  that  the 
Italians,  Greeks,  Slavs,  Finns,  and  other  less  important  south  and 
east  European  immigrants,  together  with  the  Mexicans  and  Asiatics, 
constitute  the  great  majority  of  those  employed  in  general  construc 
tion  work,  as  section  hands  on  the  railways,  common  laborers  in 
railway  shops  and  smelters,  and  a  large  percentage,  when  not  a 
majority,  of  the  common  laborers  in  lumber  yards  and  mills,  in  the 
underground  work  in  coal  and  ore  mines,  and  in  salmon  fisheries. 
The  inferior  position  occupied  by  them  in  the  large  industries  has 
been  made  evident  in  the  industrial  reports  submitted  by  an  occu 
pational  tabulation  of  the  employees. 

A  large  number  of  Italians  and  of  members  of  a  few  other  south 
or  east  European  races  have  immigrated  directly  to  the  West  dur 
ing  recent  years.  A  much  larger  number  have  gradually  worked 
their  way  west  or  have  been  " recruited"  by  employment  agents  and 
"bosses"  in  cities  of  the  Middle  West  or  obtained  by  advertising  from 
places  farther  east. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Poles,  a  majority  of  all  south  and  east 
European  races  which  were  employed  in  large  numbers  in  industries 
investigated  have  been  in  the  United  States  less  than  ten  years, 
and  in  the  cases  of  the  Dalmatians,  Greeks,  Herzegovinians,  North 
Italians,  Montenegrins,  and  Russians  more  than  half  have  been 
here  less  than  five  years.  More  than  a  third  of  several  other  races 
have  resided  in  this  country  less  than  five  years.  A  rather  large 
number  of  Italians,  Slovaks,  and  Slovenians  have  been  in  the  United 
States  as  long  as  twenty  years,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  south 
and  east  European  immigrants  have  been  introduced  into  these 
industries  within  the  last  fifteen  years.  In  general,  they  have  entered 
the  less  desirable  occupations  which  have  been  gradually  vacated 
by  the  natives  and  north  Europeans  as  these  races  have  found  more 
remunerative  places  in  industry  or  have  withdrawn  to  engage  in 
business  or  farming.  They  have  supplied  the  demand  for  unskilled 
labor  at  the  prevailing  or  slowly  advancing  wages  which  were  insuf 
ficient  to  retain  the  former  employees.  This  gradual  movement 
during  the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years  has  brought  about  a  radical 
change  in  the  racial  composition  of  the  labor  supply. 


32 

Few  instances  of  race  displacement  by  Europeans  working  at  a 
lower  wage  have  been  found.  Indeed,  with  the  rapid  expansion  of 
industry,  the  immigrants  introduced  for  construction  work  have  at 
times  been  paid  more  than  those  previously  employed,  the  numbers  of 
the  latter  being  insufficient  to  meet  the  increasing  demand,  but  such 
instances  are  unusual.  In  most  cases  when  more  men  have  been 
needed  they  have  been  available  from  the  more  recent  immigration  at 
the  prevailing  wage.  Italians  and  Greeks  have  been  employed  as 
section  hands  on  the  railroads,  as  laborers  about  mines,  smelters,  coke 
ovens,  and  lumber  mills  at  a  lower  wage  than  other  white  men, 
including  the  Slavs,  but  to  such  a  limited  extent  as  to  be  unimportant. 
Generally  they  have  been  paid  the  u  white  man's  wage." 

These  south  and  east  European  races  have  on  several  occasions  been 
introduced  as  strike  breakers,  as,  for  example,  in  the  coal  mines  of 
Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Washington,  and  in  the  metalliferous 
mines  of  Colorado.  In  such  cases  they  have  made  possible  the  reten 
tion  of  the  old  scale  of  remuneration,  because  of  the  failure  of  the 
strikes,  and  have  discouraged  the  efforts  of  the  trade  unions.  The 
numbers  introduced  for  such  purposes  have,  however,  been  relatively 
few,  and  their  use  in  this  connection  is  an  exception  to  the  general 
conditions  of  their  advent  in  western  industry. 

Although  there  has  been  little  underbidding  by  them,  the  effect  of 
the  introduction  of  the  south  and  east  European  races  into  the  indus 
tries  has  been  important.  The  availability  of  such  a  supply  of 
unskilled  laborers  has,  on  the  one  hand,  assisted  greatly  in  the  expan 
sion  of  industry,  while,  on  the  other,  it  has  seriously  retarded  the 
advance  of  wages  in  those  occupations  where  such  labor  could  be 
advantageously  used.  A  striking  example  of  this  retardation  is  found 
in  the  rate  of  wages  of  section  hands  on  the  various  steam  railways, 
which  has  varied  little  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  while  the  wages 
of  others  have  materially  increased.  Japanese  and  Mexicans  have 
been  largely  employed  at  this  work,  but  the  recent  European  immi 
gration  has  also  played  an  important  part  in  the  situation.  Wages 
of  Japanese  have  advanced  materially,  but  those  of  the  south  and 
east  European  and  Mexican  races  have  increased  only  slightly. 

The  statement  that  the  employment  of  immigrants  has  retarded 
the  advance  of  wages  is  further  substantiated  by  the  fact  that  in  those 
localities  where  south  and  east  European  immigrants  are  largely 
employed  the  rate  of  wages  is  noticeably  lower  than  in  those  where 
natives  and  north  European  immigrants  predominate  in  the  labor 
supply.  An  example  of  this  is  afforded  by  a  comparison  of  the  earn 
ings  of  street-railway  employees  in  various  communities.  In  one 
locality  in  the  State  of  Washington  where  natives  and  north  Euro 
peans  constituted  the  majority  of  those  employed,  wages  for  main 
tenance  of  way  and  construction  laborers  varied  from  $2.25  to  $2.50 
per  day,  while  in  another  community  near  by,  where  Italians  and 
Greeks  were  largely  employed,  similar  labor  received  a  wage  varying 
from  $1.75  to  $2.25.  In  three  California  localities  where  the  south 
and  east  European  element  predominated  in  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  way  "  gangs,"  the  prevailing  wages  ranged  between 
$1.75  and  $2.25  per  day,  while  in  two  localities  where  natives  and 
north  Europeans  were  largely  employed  the  rates  varied  between  $2 
and  $2.50  and  $2.25  and  $3  per  day,  respectively.  Other  instances 


33 

of  this  retardation  might  be  cited  from  the  various  industries,  as,  for 
example,  the  wages  earned  by  coal  miners  in  northern  Colorado  and 
the  employees  of  ore  mines  and  smelters  in  Montana,  where  the 
natives  and  north  Europeans  are  generally  employed,  which  wages 
are  considerably  higher  than  those  paid  for  similar  work  in  other 
localities  where  a  large  percentage  of  south  and  east  Europeans  are 
employed. 

The  influence  of  the  trade  unions  in  this  connection  should  be  noted, 
however,  for  in  both  the  Montana  and  the  Colorado  districts  men 
tioned  union  organization  is  strong  and  has  been  chiefly  responsible 
for  securing  and  maintaining  the  higher  rates  of  wages  which  obtain 
there.  But  the  maintenance  of  higher  rates  has  been  accomplished 
in  a  large  measure  by  attracting  skilled  men  of  the  older  immigration 
from  nonunion  districts  and  keeping  out,  by  means  of  public  sentiment, 
and  in  some  cases  by  other  means,  the  cheaper  immigrant  labor  from 
south  and  east  Europe.  On  the  other  hand,  in  exceptional  instances 
high  wages  have  been  secured  by  means  of  organization  in  localities 
where  the  more  recent  immigrants  predominate.  A  striking  example 
of  this  condition  is  found  in  the  Wyoming  coal  fields,  where  85.9  per 
cent  of  the  employees  were  foreign-born,  and  of  these  39.9  per  cent 
south  and  east  Europeans,  and  20.6  per  cent  Orientals.  In  spite  of 
this  preponderance  of  the  last-mentioned  races  union  rates  obtain 
similar  to  those  in  effect  in  northern  Colorado,  and  the  wages  and 
earnings  of  the  miners  are  high.  Conditions  in  Wyoming  are,  how 
ever,  somewhat  unusual.  In  general,  it  is  true  that  the  lack  of 
union  organization  and  the  prevalence  of  relatively  low  wages  are 
coextensive  with  the  predominance  of  south  and  east  Europeans  in 
the  labor  supply. 

As  noted  above,  the  immigrants  from  south  and  east  Europe  have 
found  unskilled  work  in  the  expanding  industries  of  the  West.  Their 
influx  and  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  natives  and  north  Europeans 
from  the  less  remunerative  branches  of  work  have  developed  rather 
sharp  occupational  differences  between  the  various  races  employed 
and  corresponding  differences  in  their  earnings.  A  comparatively 
small' percentage  of  the  south  and  east  Europeans  are  engaged  in 
skilled  occupations  in  the  large  industries,  and  those  who  are  so 
employed  are  for  the  most  part  Xorth  Italians,  Slovenians,  and 
Slovaks,  who  have  been  in  this  country  somewhat  longer  than  the 
others  of  the  same  general  group.  The  slight  occupational  progress 
shown  is  largely  traceable  to  their  recent  immigration.  They  have  not 
the  knowledge  of  American  methods  of  industry  and  the  familiarity 
with  the  English  language  which  are  essential  in  skilled  or  super 
visory  positions.  These  obstacles  have  been  less  easily  overcome  by 
members  of  this  race  group  because  of  their  tendenc}r  to  "colonize" 
and  their  consequent  treatment  as  separate  groups  by  employers.  In 
fact,  it  is  the  avowed  policy  of  many  employers  who  use  south  and 
east  Europeans  to  a  considerable  extent  to  keep  them  segregated  as 
much  as  possible  in  order  to  avoid  any  display  of  race  antipathy 
and  to  simplify  supervision.  The  few  members  of  these  races  who 
occupy  supervisory  positions  are  in  most  cases  foremen  of  "gangs" 
of  men  of  their  own  race,  in  which  capacity  they  are  very  effective 
because  of  their  knowledge  of  the  language  and  habits  of  the  men 
the}7  oversee. 

68534—11 3 


34 

The  progress  of  the  various  races  employed  in  the  industries  of  the 
West  toward  assimilation  is  indicated  in  some  measure  by  the  pro 
portions  who  have  learned  to  speak  English.  Comparing  them  on 
the  basis  of  length  of  residence  in  the  United  States,  it  is  clear  that  a 
fairly  distinct  line  may  be  drawn  between  the  north  European  races 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  south  and  east  Europeans  on  the  other. 
This  difference  is  most  marked  among  those  immigrants  who  have 
been  in  the  United  States  less  than  five  years.  Approximately  four- 
fifths  of  the  members  of  non-English-speaking  north  European  races 
who  have  resided  in  this  country  less  than  five  years  speak  English, 
as  opposed  to  less  than  half  of  most  of  the  races  of  the  other  group. 
It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  of  the  south  and  east  Europeans 
the  Finns,  Dalmatians,  and  Croatians  show  the  greatest  progress, 
while  the  least  advance  is  noticeable  among  the  Russians,  Slovaks, 
Herzegoviniuns,  and  North  and  South  Italians. 

Among  those  who  have  resided  in  the  United  States  from  five  to  nine 
years  there  is  not  so  marked  a  difference  between  the  members  of  the 
two  race  groups.  Approximately  nine- tenths  of  the  north  Europeans 
speak  English,  while  some  four-fifths  of  the  Russians,  the  Croatians, 
the  Ilerzegovinians,  the  Creeks,  and  the  I\ Montenegrins  have  gained 
a  command  of  our  tongue.  The  proportions  of  the  other  south  and 
east  European  races  who  speak  English  are  somewhat  lower,  only 
about  three-fifths  of  the  North  and  South  Italians  having  acquired 
the  language.  Practically  all  of  the  north  Europeans  the  length  of 
whose  residence  in  this  country  has  been  ten  years  or  over  speak 
English.  Moreover,  approximately  nine-tenths  of  the  members  of 
the  most  important  south  and  east  European  races  of  similar  length 
of  residence  speak  English.  Among  the  older  immigrants  those 
reporting  the  least  progress  are  Poles,  Portuguese,  Slovaks,  and  South 
Italians. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  the  wide  difference  as  shown  between  the 
north  Europeans  and  the  south  and  east  Europeans  during  the  first 
four  years  of  residence  in  this  country,  tends  to  disappear  in  later 
years  and  that  the  south  and  east  Europeans  are  much  handicapped 
in  the  beginning  is  very  clear.  They  are  given  the  most  unskilled  and 
disagreeable  work,  when  first  employed,  and  are  usually  placed  in 
"  gangs "  of  their  own  race,  under  bosses  who  speak  their  native 
language.  Where  this  is  not  the  case  they  are  avoided  by  their 
fellow-workmen  of  other  races  who  speak  English,  while  few  of  their 
own  race  have  been  in  the  country  long  enough  to  become  familiar 
with  our  language.  Thus  they  have  little  chance  to  associate  with 
English-speaking  people  at  their  work,  and  it  is  commonly  true  that 
this  segregation  is  carried  into  their  home  life.  The  single  men,  and 
the  married  men  whose  wives  are  abroad,  are  often  herded  into 
"bunk  houses "  in  race  groups,  and  boarded  as  race  groups  either  by 
private  individuals  or  oy  the  employers.  Furthermore,  the  men 
with  families  usually  "  colonize "  and  have  little  to  do  with  other 
races  than  their  own.  Such  segregation  is  usually  voluntary  on  their 
part,  but  whatever  its  cause  may  be  it  is  a  serious  hindrance  to 
assimilation.  The  races  from  south  and  east  Europe  speak  lan 
guages  more  radically  different  from  English  than  the  Teutonic 
speech  of  the  north  Europeans,  who  besides  having  the  advantage  of 


35 

a  similarity  in  language  associate  freely  among  themselves  and  with 
the  natives,  both  at  work  and  in  their  social  life.  Moreover,  they 
more  frequently  have  families  with  them  and  have  children  at  school. 
English  thus  tends  to  become  the  language  used  in  the  home. 

In  general  literacy,  the  north  European  races  and  the  Finns  show 
as  high  a  standard  as  that  of  the  native-born  laborers,  practically 
all  being  able  to  read  and  write,  while  other  races  have  a  large  per 
centage  of  illiteracy.  The  races  from  south  and  east  Europe,  other 
than  the  Finns,  with  the  largest  percentages  of  literates,  are  the 
Slovenians,  the  North  Italians,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Montenegrins, 
approximately  nine-tenths  of  whom  read  and  write,  while  those  with 
the  largest  percentage  of  illiterates  among  them  are  the  South 
Italians,  the  JPortuguese,  the  Russians,  and  the  Croatians,  of  whom 
between  one-third  and  two-fifths  can  not  read  and  write. 

Seasonal  labor  is  demanded  in  several  industries,  notably  railway 
maintenance  of  way,  lumbering,  fishing,  and  some  parts  of  coal  and 
ore  mining.  Recent  immigrants  who  are  unmarried,  or  whose  wives 
have  not  yet  left  their  native  lands,  are  mostly  engaged  in  this  work. 
Most  of  these  are  drawn  from  south  and  east  European  races.  Small 
proportions  of  the  Greeks,  Montenegrins,  Russians,  and  Dalmatians 
so  employed  are  married,  and  few  of  these  have  their  wives  with 
them.  Those  races,  however,  many  of  whose  members  have  been  in 
the  United  States  for  a  comparatively  long  period  of  time,  show  a 
greater  proportion  of  married  men,  and  a  greater  number  of  their 
wives  in  the  United  States.  Important  among  these  are  the  Italians, 
Slovaks,  Slovenians,  and  Finns.  Men  of  these  races  who  have  fami 
lies  usually  find  their  way  into  the  more  settled  kinds  of  unskilled 
labor,  such  as  that  ordinarily  offered  at  coal  or  ore  mines  and  in  the 
smelters.  Of  the  few  south  and  east  Europeans  who*  have  risen  to 
skilled  or  supervisory  positions,  a  majority  are  married  and  have 
their  wives  in  the  United  States.  Their  occupations  are  such  as  to 
encourage  marriage,  and,  moreover,  they  are  early  immigrants  in 
most  cases  and  have  thus  had  more  time  in  which  to  bring  their  wives 
from  their  native  land,  if  they  did  not  do  so  at  the  time  of  immigration. 

The  natives,  north  Europeans  and  English  Canadians,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  found  principally  in  the  skilled  and  supervisory  occupations 
and  in  the  more  regular  kinds  of  general  labor,  and  are  for  the  most 
part  men  with  families.  Furthermore,  practically  all  of  the  married 
immigrants  in  this  group  have  their  wives  in  the  United  States. 
With  the  exception  of  a  few  youths  and  a  number  of  men  of  migratory 
habits,  members  of  these  races  who  are  employed  in  the  industries 
studied  may  be  regarded  as  settled  laborers  from  the  point  of  view 
of  conjugal  condition. 

Not  only  are  the  north  European  and  English  Canadian  immigrants 
a  more  settled  class  of  labor  and  superior  in  point  of  literacy,  but  they 
show  also  a  much  greater  civic  interest  than  do  the  south  and  east 
Europeans.  Comparing  only  those  who  have  been  in  the  United 
States  for  similar  periods  of  time  it  is  found  that  a  much  greater 
proportion  of  the  former  group  than  of  the  latter  have  taken  out  first 
papers,  or  have  become  fully  naturalized.  The  difference  is  marked 
among  those  whose  period  of  residence  is  relatively  long — showing 
that  the  north  Europeans  develop  civic  interest  much  more  generally 
than  do  the  south  and  east  Europeans. 


36 

In  general,  similar  classes  of  differences  were  found,  though  less 
extreme,  between  these  two  groups  in  the  cities  in  which  investiga 
tions  were  made.  With  the  exception  of  the  Greeks,  Italians,  Slove 
nians,  Dalmatians,  Bohemians,  and  the  Russian  Hebrews,  the  great 
majority  of  the  south  and  east  Europeans  are  laborers,  while  the  occu 
pational  distribution  of  the  north  Europeans  and  their  offspring  is  not 
essentially  different  from  that  of  the  native-born  of  native  parents. 
The  Greeks  and  Italians  are  numerously  represented  in  petty  business, 
and  they  and  the  Slovenians  and  Dalmatians  are  very  conspicuous 
in  conducting  restaurants  and  similar  establishments.  In  San 
Francisco,  where  the  Italian  colony  is  the  largest  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
the  North  Italians  have  become  an  important  element  in  the  larger 
kinds  of  business  and  in  the  professions  of  the  city.  Most  of  the  South 
Italians,  however,  are  fishermen  and  on  the  whole  occupy  a  distinctly 
inferior  position.  With  the  exception  of  the  Greeks,  all  of  the  south 
and  east  Europeans  have  a  large  percentage  of  their  families  with  them ; 
many  of  their  representatives  have  resided  here  for  years,  some  have 
risen  from  the  ranks  of  common  labor,  the  great  majority  of  them 
speak  English,  and  with  few  exceptions  show  a  tendency  to  leave 
the  colonies  of  their  own  people  for  better  residence  districts.  As  a 
rule  the  children  differ  little  from  those  of  American  stock,  unless 
brought  up  in  colonies  such  as  those  of  the  Russians  in  Los  Angeles. 
The  most  conspicuous  feature  perhaps  is  the  extent  to  which  these 
various  races  have  organized  benevolent  societies  for  the  care  of 
those  who  meet  with  misfortune.  While  these  societies  are  frequently 
indicative  of  the  fact  that  the  race  is  far  from  being  Americanized 
and  while  they  frequently  retard  the  process  of-  assimilation,  they 
encourage  thrift  and  cause  to  rest  upon  the  charitable  institutions 
of  the  communities  a  much  smaller  burden  than  that  imposed  by 
the  Irish  and  the  native  races. 

According  to  the  census  of  1900,a  27.31  per  cent  of  those  gainfully 
occupied  in  the  Western  division  were  engaged  in  agricultural  pur 
suits.  A  large  percentage  of  all  of  the  north  European  races  and  their 
native-born  offspring,  the  Irish  and  French  excepted,  and  the  Cana 
dians,  other  than  French,  have  exhibited  a  strong  tendency  to 
aco.uire  farms.  Of  those  one  or  both  of  whose  parents  were  born 
in  Great  Britain,  25.64  per  cent,  in  Ireland  15.07  per  cent,  in  Canada 
(English)  24.39  per  cent,  in  Germany  23.05  per  cent,  and  in  Sweden, 
Norway,  and  Denmark  28.3  per  cent,  were  engaged  in  agriculture,  the 
majority  of  them  as  farmers  on  their  own  account.  Those  of  British 
descent  constituted  39.4  per  cent  of  all  the  farmers  and  overseers 
in  Utah,  15.9  per  cent  of  those  in  Idaho,  13.3  per  cent  of  those  in 
Wyoming,  and  10.9  per  cent  of  all  in  the  Western  division.  The 
Germans  constituted  11.8  per  cent  of  the  class  in  Washington,  10.7 
per  cent  in  Oregon,  9.7  per  cent  in  Colorado,  10  per  cent  in  California, 
and  8.7  per  cent  in  the  entire  Western  division.  The  Scandinavian 
element  constituted  20.9  per  cent  in  Utah,  10.8  per  cent  in  Idaho, 
9.1  per  cent  in  Washington,  and  6.5  per  cent  of  those  in  the  entire 
division.  With  the  rapid  migration  of  that  race  in  more  recent  years, 
the  percentages  given  for  the  division  as  a  whole,  and  for  Washington 
and  Oregon  particularly,  have  doubtless  materially  increased.  The 
Canadians,  being  fewer  in  number,  the  Irish,  not  exhibiting  a  tend- 

a  United  States  census,  1900,  special  reports.     Occupations.     Tables  31  and  41. 


37 

ency  to  engage  in  farm  work,  and  the  French,  being  both  few  in  num 
ber  and  not  attracted  to  farm  life,  are  not  conspicuous  as  farmers. 

The  north  European  immigrants  engaged  in  farming  have  in  many 
instances  engaged  in  business  or  in  industry  as  wage-earners  in  the 
West,  and  then  after  accumulating  some  capital  have  taken  up 
government  land  (in  Montana  and  Idaho)  or  have  purchased  farms. 
A  large  number  have  moved  from  farms  in  the  Central  States  along 
with  a  large  number  of  natives  of  native  parentage  to  acquire  new 
homes  in  the  West.  This  is  especially"  true  of  the  Scandinavians, 
who  in  recent  years  have  moved  in  large  numbers  from  the  Dakotas, 
Minnesota,  and  Wisconsin  to  Washington  and  Oregon,  or,  to  a  less 
extent,  to  other  States  of  the  Western  division.  Here  and  there 
the  Germans,  Swedes,  Norwegians,  and  Danes  are  colonized  to  a 
certain  degree.  These  cases  are  exceptional,  however,  and  are  almost 
invariably  connected  with  a  colonization  scheme  which  has  been 
adopted  for  disposing  of  large  tracts  of  land.  With  the  exceptions 
stated,  the  farmers  of  these  classes  scattered  throughout  the  com 
munities  engage  in  very  much  the  same  kinds  of  farming  as  the 
natives,  and  though,  as  a  rule,  married  to  persons  of  the  same  gen 
eral  race  group,  are  thoroughly  Americanized.  The  only  feature 
requiring  comment  is  the  strong  tendency  of  the  Danes  to  engage 
in  dairy  farming. 

The  only  south  Europeans  engaged  extensively  in  farming  in  the 
West  are  the  Italians  and  the  Portuguese.  North  Italians  acquired 
land  near  San  Francisco  before  1870,  and  near  Portland,  Tacoma, 
and  Seattle  somewhat  later.  They  have  been  conspicuous  as  small 
farmers  in  the  vicinity  of  Denver  for  twenty  years  or  more.  In 
this  latter  instance  a  large  percentage  are  from  the  southern  prov 
inces  of  Italy,  and  in  comparatively  recent  years  the  same  element 
has  settled  to  some  extent  on  farms  farther  west.  Yet  the  Italian 
farmers  are  predominantly  from  the  northern  provinces.  In  all  of 
the  cases  mentioned  these  farmers  are  primarily  growers  of  " green 
vegetables."  The  gardeners  supplying  the  San  Francisco  and  Den 
ver  markets  are  very  largely  of  that  race  and  they  share  chiefly  with 
the  Asiatics  the  Sacramento,  Portland,  Tacoma,  Seattle,  and  other 
markets  of  less  importance.  In  addition  to  these  gardeners  the 
Italians  are  settled  on  the  land  in  many  localities  in  central  California, 
where  they  are  closely  identified  with  grape  growing  and  wine 
making,  the  production  of  such  vegetables  as  beans,  and,  less  exten 
sively,  fruit  growing.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  total  number 
of  Italian  farmers  or  the  acreage  controlled  by  them  except  in  certain 
communities.  In  1900,a  farmers,  dairymen,  gardeners,  etc.,  of  Ital 
ian  parentage,  numbered  2,599  in  the  West,  more  than  two- thirds  of 
them  in  California,  this  number  being  8.08  per  cent  of  the  entire  num 
ber  of  Italians  gainfully  occupied  in  this  division.  If  the  agricultural 
laborers  are  added,  the  percentage  of  the  whole  is  20.51.  With  the 
rapid  influx  of  the  members  of  that  race  during  the  last  ten  years,  the 
number  of  those  who  have  located  upon  the  land  has  greatly  increased, 
for  the  Italians  from  the  northern  provinces  have  exhibited  as  strong 
a  desire  to  settle  upon  the  land  as  any  European  race,  excepting  per 
haps  the  German- Russian,  immigrating  to  the  West. 

The  Italian  farmers,  except  in  a  few  California  communities,  are 
closely  colonized.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  in  most  places 

0  United  States  census,  1909,  special  reports.     Occupations.     Table  41. 


38 

they  are  engaged  in  market  gardening.  The  areas  suitable  for  that 
purpose  are  limited,  and  the  necessary  cooperation  in  marketing  has 
emphasized  colony  life.  Clannishness,  which  exhibits  itself  in  various 
ways,  has  also  had  its  effect.  Most  of  the  Italian  gardens  are  con 
ducted  as  partnership  enterprises,  and  generally  the  Italian  farmers 
have  begun  farming  after  a  few  years'  employment  as  wage-laborers 
by  purchasing  a  share  in  a  partnership  already  organized  or  by  gain 
ing  a  partnership  in  process  of  formation  for  cultivating  leased  land. 
In  this  way  the  majority  of  those  who  have  engaged  in  truck  farming 
have  been  able  to  establish  themselves  upon  the  land  in  much  less 
time  than  the  north  European  immigrants  who  come  without  capital. 
In  other  kinds  of  agriculture  engaged  in  by  Italians  this  cooperation 
is  only  less  marked.  However,  they  usually  purchase  land  in  sever- 
alty  as  soon  as  through  extraordinary  thrift  they  are  able  to  accumu 
late  a  part  of  the  purchase  price. 

Thus  the  Italians  usually  engage  in  intensive  farming  requiring 
much  hand  labor  rather  than  in  diversified  or  general  farming,  and  in 
this,  as  well  as  in  the  frequency  of  colony  life  and  the  partnership 
form  of  organization,  differ  from  the  native  and  north  European 
farmers.  They  also  differ  in  that  the  wives  and  older  children  do 
much  more  of  the  work  in  the  fields  and  in  that  because  of  their 
thrift  their  housing  is  usually  below  the  standard  set  by  the  commu 
nity  and  the  premises  and  housekeeping  are  frequently  neglected. 

The  Italians  are  good  farmers.  While  in  growing  certain  kinds  of 
vegetables  they  do  not  obtain  as  large  crops  as  the  Chinese,  they  have 
developed  their  gardens  to  a  great  degree  of  fertility,  and  as  vine- 
yardists  they  take  high  rank.  In  Sonoma  County,  and  less  con 
spicuously  in  other  counties  of  California,  they  have  converted  grazing 
land  and  tracts  previously  used  for  general  farming  into  productive 
vineyards  and  orchards  and  contributed  greatly  to  the  wealth  and 
development  of  the  community. 

The  Portuguese  have  immigrated  to  only  a  few  sections  of  the 
United  States,  among  these  being  California,  which  in  1 900  reported 
12,068  of  the  total  of  30,632  in  the  continental  United  States.a  Por 
tuguese  from  the  Azores  have  been  immigrating  to  California  in  small 
numbers  for  more  than  fifty  years.  The  first  settlers  were  largely  of 
the  sailor  class.  Later  these  were  followed  by  farmers  immigrating 
directly  and  still  others  coming  to  the  mainland  from  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  where  at  different  times  a  large  number  have  been  induced 
to  go  to  work  on  the  sugar  plantations.  Still  others  in  comparatively 
recent  years  have  moved  west  from  settlements  in  the  eastern  States 
to  join  friends  or  to  find  better  opportunities  for  farming.  Though 
some  of  the  newer  arrivals  have  worked  as  common  laborers  and  a 
comparatively  large  number  have  been  employed  as  stevedores,  deck 
hands  on  the  " river  boats/'  and  in  similar  capacities,  the  Portuguese 
men  have  engaged  mainly  in  agricultural  pursuits,  usually  as  laborers 
for  their  countrymen,  then  as  tenant,  and  then  as  landowning  farmers. 
In  some  communities  where  land  has  been  available  at  a  low  price  the 
second  step  indicated  has  been  eliminated. 

The  Portuguese  farmers  have  tended  strongly  to  colonize  in  certain 
localities,  and  the  great  majority  are  found  in  central  California  and 
within  100  miles  of  San  Francisco,  where  most  of  them  have  entered 
the  United  States.  A  large  number  are  engaged  in  dairy  farming  and 

o  United  States  Census,  1900.     Population,  part  1. 


39 

many  are  occupied  in  growing  potatoes  and  the  coarser  vegetables. 
Such  interests  are  usually  combined  with  general  farming,  however. 

The  Portuguese  are  excellent  farmers,  and  frequently,  while 
improving  their  land,  obtain  two  or  three  crops  from  the  same  field 
in  the  course  of  the  year.  In  their  thrift,  investment  of  savings  in 
more  land,  in  the  character  of  their  housing  and  standard  of  living, 
they  are  very  much  like  the  Italians.  In  some  instances,  however, 
their  housing  is  of  a  distinctly  better  type.  The  one  important  differ 
ence  between  the  two  races,  besides  the  kind  of  crops  usually  pro 
duced,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Italians  cooperate  in  leasing  land, 
while  the  Portuguese  are  very  individualistic  and  seldom  rent  or  own 
land  in  partnership.  Because  of  this  circumstance  and  the  fact  that 
the  members  of  this  race,  unlike  the  Asiatics  and  German-Russians, 
have  not  been  induced  to  settle  upon  the  land  as  a  solution  of  the 
labor  problem,  the  Portuguese,  in  spite  of  their  perseverance  in  their 
efforts  to  establish  themselves  as  independent  farmers,  have  usually 
made  slower  progress  in  this  direction  than  the  Italians,  Japanese, 
and  German-Russians. 

Few  of  the  other  south  European  immigrants  are  engaged  in 
agriculture.  A  few  Greeks  have  become  tenant  farmers,  but  without 
much  success.  About  Watsonville,  Cal.,  a  comparatively  large  num 
ber  of  Dalmatians  have  engaged  in  apple  growing,  but  this  instance 
perhaps  stands  alone.  In  fact  the  immigrants  from  the  south  Euro 
pean,  and  the  east  European  countries  as  well,  the  Italians  and  Portu 
guese  excepted,  have  come  to  the  West  too  recently  to  have  established 
themselves.  Moreover,  in  most  cases  the  number  of  transient  laborers 
is  large  as  compared  to  the  number  who  have  come  to  this  country  to 
make  their  permanent  home.  The  principal  exception  to  this  is  found 
in  the  German-Russians,  an  agricultural  people,  who  have  come  to 
this  country  to  escape  heavy  taxation  and  military  service  and  in 
search  of  better  land.  Within  some  twenty  years  several  thousand 
have  come  to  Fresno  County,  Cal.,  where  they  have  worked  at 
unskilled  labor  to  begin  with,  though  a  comparatively  large  number 
have  been  able  to  establish  themselves  as  farmers,  which  is  the  goal 
practically  all  have  in  view.  The  acreage  controlled  by  them  is 
roughly  estimated  at  5,000.  In  Colorado  there  are  perhaps  between 
800  and  900  tenant  and  landowning  farmers  of  this  race,  occupying 
for  the  greater  part  holdings  in  excess  of  60  acres  and  not  infre 
quently  much  larger  tracts.  This  farming  has  developed  within  the 
last  ten  years  and  has  been  incidental  to  the  growth  of  the  beet- 
sugar  industry.  The  sugar  companies  have  brought  large  numbers 
of  families  of  this  race  from  Nebraska  to  do  the  hand  work  involved 
in  growing  sugar  beets.  From  laborers  doing  the  hand  work  on  a 
piece  basis  they  have  rapidly  advanced  to  tenant  and  to  landowning 
farmers.  Their  advance  is  in  part  to  be  ascribed  to  their  great 
industry,  the  labor  of  all  members  of  the  family  except  the  smallest 
children,  to  their  very  great  thrift,  to  the  liberal  advances  of  capital 
made  by  the  sugar  companies,  and  the  credit  extended  to  them 
freely  by  the  banks. 

Not  even  the  Japanese  have  made  as  rapid  advance  as  the  German- 
Russians.  A  comparatively  small  number  of  German-Russians 
are  engaged  in  tenant  farming  in  one  locality  in  Idaho  also.  They, 
too  were  brought  to  the  community  (from  Portland)  by  the  manu 
facturers  of  beet  sugar,  and  settled  upon  the  land.  In  their  housing 
and  the  labor  of  children  the  German-Russians  rank  lower  than  the 


40 

south  European  immigrant  farmers,  and  in  their  thrift  they  are 
perhaps  equaled  by  none.  Whether  aside  from  their  economic  con 
tribution  they  will  prove  to  be  an  asset  to  the  communities  in  which 
they  live  only  the  lapse  of  time  will  show. 

Except  in  the  case  of  the  Italians  and  Portuguese  few  of  the  Euro 
pean  immigrants  become  agricultural  laborers  in  the  West,  and  in 
the  case  of  the  non-English-speaking  those  who  are  so  employed 
work  very  largely  for  their  countrymen  as  "regular  hands."  Also, 
in  the  case  of  the  Italians  and  Portuguese,  the  opportunities  for 
acquiring  land  by  lease  or  purchase  have  been  so  good  that  thus  far 
laborers  of  these  races  have  been  employed  almost  entirely  by  their 
countrymen.  The  Portuguese  farmers  employ  their  own  countrymen 
largely,  and,  as  a  rule,  at  lower  wages  than  those  generally  prevailing 
in  the  community.  This  is  still  more  characteristic  of  the  Italians,  of 
whom  few  work  for  members  of  other  races  except  when  they  are 
employed  in  large  numbers  about  dairies.  Because  of  the  strong 
desire  to  live  with  their  countrymen  and  be  able  to  have  the  food  and 
wine  to  which  they  are  accustomed,  they  are  frequently  found  working 
for  $1  per  day  of  twelve  hours  or  more  upon  Italian  farms  in  com 
munities  where  the  current  wage  per  day  of  ten  or  eleven  hours  for 
the  same  work  is  $1.50. 

CHINESE. 

Though  a  few  thousand  Armenians  are  found  in  the  West,  most  of 
them  in  Fresno  County,  Cal.,  and  perhaps  a  thousand  Syrians  in 
Los  Angeles,  most  of  the  Asiatic  immigration  has  been  from  eastern 
Asia — China,  Japan,  Korea,  and  India.  For  reasons  already  given,  no 
special  investigation  was  made  of  the  Chinese.  Such  data  as  were 
obtained  were  secured  incidental  to  the  investigation  of  other  races 
and  of  industries  in  which  Chinese  are  or  have  been  employed. 
A  few  points  concerning  their  number,  occupations,  and  related  mat 
ters  may  be  commented  on  briefly,  however,  chiefly  for  convenience 
in  discussing  Japanese  immigration,  upon  which  most  emphasis 
was  placed  in  the  investigation  made  in  the  Western  division. 

According  to  the  census,  the  number  of  Chinese  in  the  continental 
United  States  in  1900  was  93,283.  Of  these,  88,758  were  males  and 
4,525  were  females.  In  all  probability  the  number  of  adult  males  was 
somewhat  larger  than  the  figure  reported,  as  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  enumerate  all  but  a  negligible  percentage  of  the  foreign-born  males 
living  under  such  conditions  as  were  at  that  time  found  among 
the  Chinese.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  number  of  persons  of 
that  race  now  in  the  United  States,  as  many  have  died  or  returned 
to  China  since  1900,  while  others  have  returned  from  China  to  this 
country,  and  men,  women,  and  children  of  the  eligible  classes  to  the 
number  of  19,182  have  been  admitted  to  the  United  States  between 
July  1,  1900,  and  June  30,  1909. a  Moreover,  it  is  acknowledged  by 
those  familiar  with  the  administration  of  the  law  that  some  foreign- 
born  have  secured  admission  as  "  native  sons  "  while  others  have  been 
smuggled  across  the  Canadian  or  the  Mexican  boundary.  However, 
it  has  become  evident  from  the  investigation  conducted  by  the  Com 
mission  that  the  number  of  Chinese  in  all  of  the  cities  of  the  West, 
and  the  number  engaged  in  the  different  industries  in  which  they  have 
found  employment  in  the  past,  have  materially  decreased  within  the 
last  decade  or  so.  It  is  unlikely  that  the  migration  from  the  Coast 


»  See  reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration,  1900  to  1909. 


41 

States,  mainly  from  California  to  the  East,  and  the  more  general 
distribution  of  Chinese  throughout  the  country  explains  entirely 
the  decreasing  number  of  persons  of  that  race,  including  the  native- 
born,  found  in  the  West. 

The  immigration  of  Chinese  laborers  to  this  country  may  be  said 
to  date  from  the  rush  to  California  in  search  of  gold  sixty  years  ago. 
Within  ten  years  a  relatively  large  number  of  persons  of  that  race, 
more  than  45,000  in  fact,  found  a  place  in  the  population  of  that 
State.  Before  the  close  of  the  decade  of  the  sixties,  they  had  engaged 
in  a  variety  of  occupations,  as  the  absence  of  cheap  labor  from  any 
other  source,  their  industry  and  organization,  and  the  rapid  growth 
of  the  country  placed  a  premium  upon  their  employment.  The 
largest  number  (some  20,000  in  1861)  engaged  in  gold  mining;  sev 
eral  thousand,  many  of  them  imported  under  contract,  were  employed 
toward  the  end  of  the  decade  in  the  construction  of  the  Central  racific 
Railroad,  which  was  to  form  the  first  of  the  transcontinental  railways 
making  possible  an  influx  of  laborers  from  the  East.  Other  Chinese 
engaged  in  gardening,  laundering,  domestic  service,  and  hand  labor 
in  the  fields,  while  still  others  found  employment  in  factories  and 
workshops  or  engaged  in  business  for  themselves.  As  domestic 
servants  in  San  Francisco,  in  1870,  they  numbered  1,256  out  of  a  total 
of  6,800,  their  number  being  exceeded  by  that  of  the  Irish  only,  of 
whom  3,046  were  reported.  Chinese  laundrymen  numbered  1,333  in 
a  total  of  2,069  reported.  As  laborers  in  domestic  and  personal 
service  they  numbered  2,128  in  a  total  of  8,457.  According  to  the 
census  for  1870,  they  numbered  296  of  1,551  persons  employed  in 
San  Francisco  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes,  1,657  of  the 
1,811  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  cigars,  253  of  393  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  woolens,  and  110  of  1,223  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  clothing,  a  total  of  2,316  of  a  grand  total  of  4,978 
employed  in  these  four  industries. a  These  were  the  chief  branches 
of  manufacture  in  cities  in  which  they  found  employment.  With 
the  development  of  salmon  canning  in  Oregon  and  Washington  dur 
ing  the  eighties  and  still  later  with  the  development  of  the  same 
industry  in  Alaska,  they  were  for  many  years  employed  almost 
exclusively  in  canning,  under  contract,  the  fish  caught  by  white 
fishermen.  They  also  constituted  a  large  percentage,  when  not 
a  majority,  of  the  " powder  makers"  and  general  laborers  employed 
in  powder  factories. 

For  twenty  years,  beginning  in  the  late  sixties,  several  thousand 
found  employment  as  construction  laborers  upon  the  new  railways 
constructed  from  time  to  time  and  as  section  hands  upon  those 
already  constructed.  They  also  found  employment  as  general 
laborers,  engine  wipers  and  boiler  washers,  and  in  other  occupations 
calling  for  little  skill  in  railroad  shops.  Of  still  greater  importance, 
however,  was  their  employment,  beginning  previous  to  1870,  as 
hand  laborers  in  the  orchards,  fields,  hppyards,  and  vineyards  of 
California  north  of  the  Tehachepi,  and  in  the  canneries  and  other 
establishments  incidental  to  conserving  and  marketing  the  crops 
produced.  In  1870  they  numbered  1,637  in  a  total  of  16,231  farm 
laborers  reported  by  the  census  for  California.  Though  the  estimate 

o United  States  census,  1870,  Population  and  Social  Statistics,  p.  799.  These 
figures  may  include  small  numbers  of  Japanese,  of  whom  there  were  but  55  in  this 
country  at  that  time. 


42 

made  by  the  California  bureau  of  labor  in  1886,  that  Chinese  constituted 
seven-eighths  of  the  agricultural  laborers  of  the  State,  was  doubtless 
a  great  exaggeration,  they  did  most  of  the  hand  work,  such  as 
hoeing,  weeding,  pruning,  and  harvesting,  in  all  localities  in  the 
central  and  northern  part  of  the  State  in  which  intensive  farming 
was  carried  on.  Their  presence  and  organization  at  a  time  when 
cheap  and  reliable  white  laborers  were  difficult  to  obtain  made  pos 
sible  the  high  degree  of  specialized  farming  which  came  to  prevail 
in  several  localities.  They  occupied  a  much  less  conspicuous  place  in 
the  harvest  work  involved  in  general  farming.  Being  inefficient  with 
teams,  and  white  men  being  available  for  such  work  in  most  localities, 
they  were  practically  limited  to  hand  work.  In  other  States  than 
California  they  found  little  place  in  agricultural  work,  the  largest 
number  being  employed  in  the  hop  industry  of  the  Northwest.  In 
fact,  until  in  the  eighties  few  of  the  Chinese  resided  outside  of  Cali 
fornia.  This  race  never  gained  a  place  in  coal  mining  except  in 
Wyoming,  where  they  were  employed  in  the  mines  developed  after 
the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway. 

The  ease  with  which  the  Chinese  found  employment  and  the  place 
they  came  to  occupy  in  the  West  is  explained  by  several  facts.  First 
of  all,  they  were  the  cheapest  laborers  available  for  unskilled  work. 
The  white  population  previous  to  the  eighties  was  drawn  almost 
entirely  from  the  eastern  States  and  from  north  European  coun 
tries,  and,  as  in  all  rapidly  developing  communities,  the  number  of 
women  and  children  was  comparatively  small.  According  to  the 
census  of  1870,  of  238,648  persons  engaged  in  gainful  occupations 
in  California,  46  per  cent  were  native-born,  13  per  cent  were  born  in 
Ireland,  8  per  cent  in  Germany,  4.8  per  cent  in  England  and  Wales, 
2  per  cent  in  France,  and  1.4  per  cent  in  Italy.  The  Chinese,  with 
14  per  cent  of  the  total,  were  more  numerous  than  the  Irish.  The 
Chinese  worked  for  lower  wages  than  the  white  men  in  the  fields 
and  orchards,  in  the  shoe  factories,  the  cigar  factories,  the  woolen  mills, 
and  later  in  most  of  the  other  industries  in  which  the  two  classes 
were  represented.  As  a  result  of  this,  a  division  of  labor  grew  up  in 
which  the  Chinese  were  very  generally  employed  in  certain  occupa 
tions  while  white  persons  were  employed  in  other  occupations  requir 
ing  skill,  a  knowledge  of  English,  and  other  qualities  not  possessed 
by  the  Asiatics,  and  sufficiently  agreeable  in  character  and  surround 
ings  to  attract  white  persons  of  the  type  at  that  time  found  in  the 
population  of  the  West.  Upon  occasion,  too,  the  lower  cost  of  pro 
duction  with  Chinese  labor  caused  more  of  the  work  to  fall  into  their 
hands  as  they  became  well  enough  trained  to  do  it.  Instances  of  this 
are  found  in  the  manufacture  of  cigars  and  shoes  in  San  Francisco. 

Chinese  labor  was  well  organized  and  readily  available,  for  the  cigar 
makers,  shoemakers,  and  tailors,  as  well  as  the  launderers,  were  organ 
ized  into  trade  guilds  with  an  interpreter  and  agent  or  " bookman" 
in  each  white  establishment  in  which  they  were  employed.  Agri 
cultural  laborers  were  secured  through  a  "boss"  and  employed  under 
his  supervision.  The  same  organization  was  found  in  fish  canneries, 
where  the  work  was  done  under  contract  at  so  much  per  case,  also 
in  the  fruit  and  vegetable  canneries — in  fact  in  all  industries  in  which 
more  than  a  few  men  were  employed.  The  hiring  and  supervision  of 
men  in  this  way  was  convenient  and  of  great  advantage  to  the 
employer  in  such  industries  as  were  seasonal  in  character.  In  agri- 


43 

culture,  where  several  times  as  many  men  were  wanted  for  a  limited 
period  as  during  the  remainder  of  the  year,  this  organization  of 
labor  placed  a  great  premium  upon  the  Chinese  as  employees. 

In  the  manufacture  of  cigars,  some  manufacturers  state  that 
Chinese  were  found  to  be  much  slower  than  women  and  youths, 
while  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  they  never  attained  to 
highly  skilled  work.  In  other  industries,  however,  they  were  very 
generally  regarded  as  efficient  workers  for  all  kinds  of  hand  work. 
This  is  especially  true  of  fish,  fruit,  and  vegetable  canning  and  of  all 
kinds  of  hand  work  in  orchards  and  vegetable  gardens.  Though 
unprogressive  and  slow,  they  accomplished  much  work  through 
industry  and  long  hours,  and  by  the  exercise  of  care  the  quality  of 
the  work  performed  was  of  a  high  order. 

Finally,  to  mention  only  the  more  important  of  the  facts  giving 
rise  to  an  effective  preference  for  Chinese  for  such  work  as  they  were 
employed  to  do,  in  canneries,  on  the  ranches,  and  in  other  places 
where  the  employees  ordinarily  could  not  live  at  home,  they  found 
favor  because  they  involved  the  least  trouble  and  expense.  They 
provided  their  own  subsistence  where  white  men,  if  they  did  not  live 
close  at  hand,  would  ordinarily  be  provided  with  board.  Lodgings 
were  easily  provided  for  the  Chinese,  for  whatever  may  be  said  con 
cerning  their  standard  of  living  as  a  whole,  they  are  gregarious  and 
are  less  dissatisfied  when  " bunked"  in  small  quarters  than  is  any 
other  race  thus  far  employed  in  the  West. 

After  much  ineffective  state  and  local  legislation  in  California 
the  further  immigration  of  Chinese  of  the  laboring  class  was  for 
bidden  by  the  first  of  the  federal  exclusion  laws  enacted  in  1882. 
There  had  been  opposition  to  the  Chinese  in  the  mining  camps 
of  California  as  early  as  1852,  this  finally  leading  to  the  miners'  license 
tax  collected  from  them  alone,  in  the  cigar  trade  in  San  Francisco  as 
early  as  1862,  and  in  other  trades  in  which  the  Chinese  were  engaged 
beginning  somewhat  later.  For  the  opposition  many  reasons  were 
assigned,  but  the  most  important  appears  to  have  been  race  antipathy 
based  upon  color,  language,  and  race  traits,  which  has  frequently 
found  expression  where  numerous  Chinese  and  white  men  of  the 
laboring  classes  have  been  brought  into  close  contact.  This  feeling 
found  expression  not  only  in  San  Francisco  on  numerous  occasions, 
but  in  many  other  towns  in  California,  in  Tacoma,  where  Chinese 
have  not  been  permitted  to  reside,  and  in  the  riots  at  Rock  Springs, 
Wyo.,  in  1882.  In  public  discussion  many  reasons  were  advanced 
rightly  or  wrongly  for  excluding  the  Chinese,  but  that  the  opposition 
was  more  than  a  part  of  a  labor  movement  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  many  ranchers  who  were  employing  Chinese  at  the  time  voted 
" against  Chinese  immigration"  at  the  election  held  in  California  in 
1879,  at  which  time  the  matter  of  Chinese  exclusion  was  submitted 
to  popular  vote. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  the  number  of  Chinese  in  the  United 
States  at  the  time  the  first  exclusion  act  went  into  effect  (1882)  was 
132,300.a  The  number  of  Chinese  laborers  did  not  diminish  percep 
tibly  for  several  years  after  this.  More  recently,  because  of  the 

a  Coolidge,  Chinese  Immigration,  p.  498.  The  number  reported  by  the  census  for 
1880  was  105,465,  of  which  number  75,132  were  in  California,  9,510  in  Oregon,  5,416  in 
Nevada,  3,379  in  Idaho,  3,186  in  Washington,  and  the  remaining  8,842  in  other  States. 


44 

wider  distribution  of  the  Chinese  among  the  States,  the  decreasing 
number  in  the  country,  the  large  percentage  who  have  grown  old, 
a  strong  sentiment  against  employing  Asiatics  in  manufacture,  and 
the  appearance  of  the  Japanese,  a  change  has  taken  place  in  the 
occupations  in  which  the  Chinese  engage. 

During  the  nineties,  with  the  growth  of  the  fishing  industry  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  the  number  of  Chinese  engaged  in  cannery  work  has 
grown,  but  owing  to  the  increasing  difficulty  involved  in  securing 
them  and  the  higher  wages  which  they  have  come  to  command  since 
1900,  an  increasing  number  of  Japanese  and,  very  recently,  Filipinos, 
have  been  employed. 

During  the  year  1909  some  3,000  Chinese  were  employed  in  can 
neries  in  Oregon,  Washington,  and  Alaska,  most  of  them  migrating 
,from  San  Francisco  and  Portland.  The  number  of  Japanese  em 
ployed  was  approximately  the  same.  Both  races  are  employed  in 
the  great  majority  of  the  establishments,  a  Chinese  ordinarily  having 
the  contract  for  the  work  done,  employing  his  countrymen  for  the 
more  skilled  work,  and  Japanese,  under  a  Japanese  "boss,"  and  other 
persons  for  the  less  skilled  occupations.  The  Chinese  command  much 
higher  wages  than  the  Japanese.  In  fruit  and  vegetable  canning  in 
California  perhaps  1,000  or  more  Chinese  are  employed.  Of  750  men 
employed  in  six  asparagus  canneries  on  the  Sacramento  Kiver,  nearly 
all  are  Chinese  secured  through  one  Chinese  "boss."  Most  of  the 
others  are  employed  in  two  canneries  operated  by  Chinese  companies. 
In  other  canneries  European  immigrants  of  the  newer  type,  chiefly 
Italians,  Greeks,  and  Portuguese,  have  been  substituted  for  them. 
In  some  instances  where  Chinese  were  formerly  employed  but  were 
discharged  by  their  employers  because  of  the  feeling  against  the  race 
or  because  of  public  criticism,  Asiatics  are  not  now  employed. 

Few  Chinese  are  now  employed  in  railway  work.  As  section  hands 
they  had  all  but  disappeared  ten  years  or  more  ago,  and  the  number 
still  employed  in  railway  shops  is  small.  As  they  grew  old  and  their 
numbers  diminished  so  that  they  could  not  furnish  a  large  percentage 
of  the  laborers  required  their  departure  was  hastened  by  the  well- 
organized  Japanese,  who  took  employment  at  the  same  wages  (and 
less  than  was  paid  to  other  races),  though  the  Chinese  are  almost 
universally  regarded  as  better  "help"  than  the  Japanese  except  in 
such  occupations  about  the  shops  as  require  adaptability  and  pro- 
gressiveness.  The  Chinese  were  in  part  replaced  by  other  races  before 
Japanese  became  available,  and  where  this  was  done  it  was  generally 
at  a  higher  wage,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Mexicans,  than  the  Chinese 
had  received. 

The  Chinese  engaged  in  agriculture  were  very  largely  replaced  by 
Japanese.  The  Chinese  engaged  in  the  growing  of  sugar  beets  were 
underbid  and  displaced  by  the  more  progressive  and  quicker  Japanese 
and  have  all  but  absolutely  disappeared  from  the  industry.  In  the 
hop  industry  the  Japanese  underbid  the  Chinese  as  the  Chinese  had 
the  white  men.  Because  of  this  fact  and  the  further  fact  that  the 
Japanese  had  the  same  convenient  organization  and  were  more 
numerous,  the  Chinese  have  come  to  occupy  a  comparatively  unim 
portant  place  in  that  industry.  The  same  is  true  in  the  deciduous- 
fruit  industry,  though  Chinese  lease  orchards  and  in  almost  every 
locality  are  employed  in  comparatively  large  groups  on  some  of  the 
older  ranches.  The  largest  amount  of  land  is  leased  by  them  and 


45 

the  largest  number  of  them  are  employed  for  wages  in  the  orchards  and 
on  the  large  tracts  devoted  to  tne  production  of  vegetables  on  the 
Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers.  In  a  few  localities  they  migrate 
from  place  to  place  for  seasonal  work,  but  such  instances  have  become 
exceptional.  Nearly  all  work  in  the  same  place  throughout  the  year. 
Moreover,  as  the  Japanese  have  advanced  the  Chinese  have  leased 
fewer  orchards  and  withdrawn  to  grow  vegetables  or  have  gone  to 
the  towns  and  cities.  Though  the  number  employed  in  agricultural 
work  is  by  no  means  small,  they  are  no  longer  a  dominant  factor  in 
the  labor  supply,  and  especially  in  that  required  for  harvesting  the 
crops.  The  place  once  occupied  by  them  has  for  several  years  been 
occupied  by  the  Japanese. 

The  number  of  Chinese  engaged  in  mining  has  for  many  years  been 
small,  some  40  in  coal  mining  in  Wyoming  as  against  several  hundred 
formerly  employed  there,  and  several  hundred  as  against  many 
thousand  in  gold  mining  in  California. 

Many  Chinese  are  living  in  the  small  towns  of  the  West,  engaged  in 
laundry  work,  petty  business,  and  gambling,  or  rather  conducting 
places  for  gambling.  The  laundries  are  patronized  chiefly  by  white 
people,  the  shops  by  Chinese,  and  the  gambling  places  by  Chinese 
and  Japanese.  In  San  Francisco  they  are  much  less  conspicuously 
employed  in  domestic  service  and  manufacture  than  formerly.  Most 
of  those  engaged  in  domestic  service  are  high-priced  cooks  in  private 
families  and  in  saloons.  They  now  have  a  scarcity  value.  The  most 
recently  published  estimate  made  by  the  assessor  for  the  city  and 
county  or  San  Francisco  of  the  number  of  Chinese  engaged  in  manu 
facture  (in  San  Francisco)  was,  for  1903,  2,420,  the  branches  of  manu 
facture  having  more  than  100  being  cigar  making,  with  800  Chinese 
in  a.  total  of  1,300;  clothing,  with  250  in  a  total  of  1,050;  shirt 
making,  with  300  in  a  total  of  1,500,  and  shoemaking,  with  250  in  a 
total  of  950.  Their  numbers  in  all  of  these  cases  are  smaller  than 
formerly.  In  shoe  and  cigar  making  many  were  discharged  during 
the  seventies  and  eighties  because  of  public  criticism  or  fear  of  boy 
cott.  When  white  persons  were  substituted  it  was,  in  some  cases  at 
least,  at  a  higher  wage  and  for  a  shorter  work  day.  At  present  the 
Chinese  employed  are  among  the  low  paid  laborers  in  "  white  shops." 
The  same  is  true  of  those  employed  in  powder  factories,  where  the 
number  is  much  smaller  than  formerly. 

The  assessment  roll  for  1908  shows' 20  cigar  factories,  3  broom  fac 
tories,  1  shoe  factory,  and  5  overall  factories  conducted  by  Chinese 
in  San  Francisco.  By  far  the  largest  number  of  Chinese,  however, 
some  1,000,  are  employed  in  the  100  Chinese  laundries.  The  other 
branches  of  business  are  of  comparatively  little  importance  save  the 
art  and  curio  stores,  which  are  conducted  by  business  men  from 
China.  Of  the  Chinese  in  other  cities  much  the  same  may  be  said, 
except  that  they  occupy  no  important  place  in  manufacture  and  that 
they  frequently  conduct  cheap  restaurants,  patronized  largely  by 
workingmen.  In  Portland  they  also  conduct  numerous  tailor  shops. 
On  the  whole,  the  Chinese  have  not  shown  the  same  progressiveness 
and  competitive  ability  either  in  industry  or  in  business  for  them 
selves  as  the  Japanese.  They  have,  however,  occupied  a  more  impor 
tant  place  in  manufacture,  especially  in  San  Francisco,  where,  until 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  little  cheap  labor  has  been  available 
from  other  sources. 


46 


JAPANESE. 


The  Japanese  laborers  have  fallen  heir  to  much  of  the  work  and  the 
occupational  and  social  position  of  the  Chinese,  whose  diminishing 
numbers  in  the  Western  States  since  1890  have  been  mentioned.  The 
history  of  the  Japanese  in  this  country  can  be  understood  in  certain 
respects  only  when  connected  with  that  of  the  Chinese  whose  immi 
gration  was  earlier  and  who,  in  decreasing  numbers,  have  continued 
to  work  along  with  the  members  of  the  newer  race. 

Until  1898  the  number  of  Japanese  immigrating  to  the  continental 
United  States  had  never  reached  2,000  in  any  one  year.  In  1900  the 
total  number  in  the  continental  United  States,  excluding  Alaska,  was 
reported  by  the  census  as  24,326.  From  1899-1900  to  1906-7  the 
number  arriving  from  Japan,  Mexico,  and  Canada  varied  between 
4,319  (in  1905)  and  12,626  (in  1900),  while  between  January  1,  1902, 
and  December  31,  1907,  37,000,  attracted  by  the  higher  wages,  better 
conditions,  and  better  opportunities  to  establish  themselves  as  farm 
ers  or  as  business  men,  came  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands  to  the  main 
land.  For  the  greater  part  of  this  time  these  immigrants  had  come 
regardless  of  the  avowed  wishes  of  the  Japanese  Government,  for  the 
great  influx  in  1900  gave  rise  to  a  demand  that  the  Chinese  exclusion 
law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  apply  to  Japanese  and  Koreans  as 
well.  As  emigration  to  the  continental  United  States  was  discour 
aged,  however,  the  Japanese  subjects  emigrated  to  Hawaii,  where 
their  labor  was  desired  on  the  sugar  plantations,  and  then  came  in 
large  numbers  to  the  mainland.  During  1906  and  1907  there  was  a 
similar  movement  from  Mexico  also,  where  several  thousand  laborers 
had  been  sent  by  the  emigration  companies  under  contract  to  work 
for  corporations.  A  similar  movement  of  less  importance  has  also 
taken  place  between  British  Columbia  and  the  United  States,  prima 
rily  because  the  latter  presented  better  opportunities  than  the  former. 
The  influx  of  Japanese  laborers  has  been  controlled  and  reduced  to 
small  proportions  during  the  last  two  years.  This  has  been  accom 
plished  not  by  an  exclusion  law  but  by  a  series  of  measures  which 
permits  the  greater  part  of  the  administrative  problem  to  rest  with 
the  Japanese  Government. 

Since  1905  there  has  been  a  general  and  organized  demand  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  particularly  in  California,  for  the  exclusion  of  Jap 
anese  laborers  from  the  continental  territory  of  the  United  States. 
The  separation  of  Japanese  from  white  children  in  the  public  schools 
of  San  Francisco,  and  other  manifestations  of  anti-Japanese  senti 
ment,  together  with  a  number  of  anti-Japanese  measures  under  con 
sideration  by  the  legislature  of  California  precipitated  an  acute 
situation,  in  1906  and  1907.  On  the  other  hand  it  developed  that 
the  Japanese  Government  had  for  some  time  looked  with  disfavor  on 
the  emigration  of  its  working  population  to  distant  countries, 
and  an  understanding  was  therefore  reached  between  the  Jap 
anese  and  the  United  States  Governments  that  the  former  should 
thenceforth  issue  passports  to  only  such  members  of  the  laboring  class 
as  had  been  residents  of  this  country  and  were  returning  here,  were 
parents,  wives,  or  children  of  residents  of  this  country,  or  had  an 
already  possessed  right  to  agricultural  land.  The  granting  of  pass 
ports  to  "nonlaborers"  remained  as  before.  The  immigration  law 
was  amended  by  Congress  so  as  to  give  the  President  power  to  order 


47 

that  where  a  race  was  entering  the  continental  United  States  from 
any  country  to  the  "detriment  of  labor  conditions"  such  immigra 
tion  should  not  be  permitted  except  upon  passports  for  the  United 
States  properly  granted  by  the  government  to  which  the  bearer  owed 
allegiance.0  The  President  exercised  the  authority  vested  in  him  and, 
by  order  dated  March  14,  1907,  denied  admission  to  "Japanese  and 
Korean  laborers,  skilled  or  unskilled,  who  have  received  passports  to 
go  to  Mexico,  Canada,  or  Hawaii,  and  come  therefrom"  to  the  conti 
nental  territory  of  the  United  States.  More  recently  (1908)  the  num 
ber  of  passports  to  be  granted  in  any  one  year  to  Japanese  emigrating 
to  Canada  has  been  limited  to  400  by  agreement  between  the  Japanese 
and  Canadian  Governments,  while  the  Japanese  Government  has  also 
suspended  the  practice  of  the  emigration  companies  of  sending  con 
tract  laborers  to  Mexico.  It  should  be  added,  also,  that  the  Japanese 
Government  by  its  own  initiative  has  applied  the  same  regulations  to 
the  issuing  of  passports  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  as  to  the  mainland. 
Thus,  by  agreement,  it  is  understood  that  Japanese  laborers,  except 
as  above  noted,  shall  not  enter  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  Canadian  and  Mexican  borders  have  been  protected  by  practically 
refusing  to  permit  emigration  to  the  neighboring  countries.  All  of  the 
data  gathered  by  the  agents  of  the  Commission  show  that  since  the 
summer  of  1907  very  few  Japanese  have  entered  the  Western  States 
except  those  who  came  directly  from  Japan  and  were  regularly 
admitted  at  the  immigration  stations. 

During  the  year  1907-8  the  number  of  Japanese  who  were  admitted 
to  the  continental  United  States  was  9,544,  and  among  them  there 
were  many  of  the  class  not  presumed  under  the  agreement  to  receive 
passports,  but,  as  explained  by  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immi 
gration,  "the  system  did  not  begin  to  work  smoothly  in  all  of  its 
details  until  the  last  month  of  the  fiscal  year."  6  During  the  two 
years  which  have  since  elapsed,  however,  the  numbers  admitted 
have  been  very  much  smaller — 2,432  and  1,552  for  the  two  years, 
respectively.  Of  the  2,432  admitted  in  1908-9,  768  were  former 
residents,  leaving  1,664  who  came  for  the  first  time.  A  compara 
tively  small  number  who  were  admitted  came  with  passports  to 
which,  according  to  the  understanding  of  the  Bureau  of  Immigra 
tion,  they  were  not  entitled,  while  some  were  admitted  who  did  not 
possess  passports  to  this  country  properly  made  out. c  The  great 
majority  of  the  much-reduced  number  admitted,  however,  have  been 
of  the  nonlaboring  class— 1,719  of  the  2,432  admitted  in  1908-9. 
Though  a  large  percentage  of  the  nonlaborers  take  work  as  wage 
laborers  upon  their  arrival  in  this  country,  and  the  classes  excluded 
are  not  just  the  same  as  under  the  Chinese  exclusion  law,  the  regula 
tion  is  undoubtedly  effective  at  present  in  preventing  any  "  detriment 
to  labor  conditions." 

A  large  percentage  of  those  who  have  come  recently  have  been 
the  wives  and  children  of  Japanese  already  in  this  country.  The 
number  of  Japanese  males  of  the  laboring  class  departing  from  the 
United  States  is  in  excess  of  the  number  who  are  admitted  at  the 
ports. 

a Section  1  of  immigration  act,  approved  February  20,  1907. 
l>  Report  for  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1908,  p.  126. 

c  See  Report  of  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  for  fiscal  year  ended  June  30, 
1909,  p.  100. 


48 

The  percentage  of  students  who  have  come  has  been  comparatively 
large,  but  the  great  majority  of  these  have  accepted  employment  and 
have  not  pursued  a  regular  course  of  study,  except,  possibly,  in  English 
in  a  night  school.  The  primary  motive  behind  the  immigration  to  this 
country  has  been  economic — a  desire  to  earn  the  highest  wages  they 
could  command  and  then  to  return  to  their  native  land  with  savings 
which  would  place  them  in  a  better  economic  position,  or,  more  recently, 
upon  the  part  of  a  rather  small  minority,  a  desire  to  establish  them 
selves  as  farmers  and  business  men  and  settle  permanently  in  this  coun 
try.  The  advantages  offered  by  this  country,  as  well  as  the  unpleasant 
features,  have  long  been  known  through  those  who  have  returned 
to  Japan,  through  correspondence,  and  through  numerous  handbooks 
and  guides  to  "America  which  have  been  published  in  the  Japanese 
language.  Moreover,  the  way  has  been  smoothed  and  migration 
made  convenient,  emigration  for  some  years  induced,  and  the  stream 
enlarged  by  the  emigration  companies.  On  this  side,  also,  the  con 
tractors,  operating  boarding  houses  or  cooperating  with  boarding- 
house  keepers,  and  probably  in  some  instances  under  agreement  with 
emigration  companies,  have  found  employment  and  smoothed  the 
way  for  the  newly  arrived  immigrants.  These  are  the  more  important 
facts,  which,  together  with  the  less  attractive  prospects  for  laborers 
in  Formosa,  Korea,  and  Manchuria,  have  given  rise  to  a  strong  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  Japanese  of  the  agricultural,  industrial,  and  small 
shopkeeping  classes  to  emigrate  to  the  United  States. 

The  number  of  Japanese,  including  the  native-born,  in  the  conti 
nental  territory  of  the  United  States  in  the  summer  of  1909  is  roughly 
estimated  as  between  95,000  and  100,000.  Whatever  the  number 
may  be,  at  least  five-sixths  of  them  are  in  the  11  States  and  Territories 
constituting  the  Western  division.  Though  a  large  percentage  of  the 
Japanese  are  migratory  and  the  number  in  a  State  varies  during  the 
year,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  half  or  more  than  half  of  the  Japanese  in 
the  continental  territory  are  in  California  and  16,000  or  more  in  Wash 
ington,  where  the  great  majority  have  arrived,  the  next  largest  num 
bers  being  in  Colorado  and  Oregon.  It  is  in  part  the  congestion  thus 
indicated  which  has  given  rise  to  the  problem  connected  with  the 
immigration  of  Japanese  laborers.  Yet  the  number  of  Japanese 
men  in  California  in  1909  was  perhaps  between  6.5  and  7  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  males  16  years  of  age  or  over,  while  in  1870  the 
Chinese  were  14  per  cent  and  in  1880  a  still  larger  percentage  of  all 
persons  employed  in  the  State. 

Perhaps  7,000  of  the  95,000  or  100,000  Japanese  in  the  United 
States  are  adult  females,  practically  all  of  whom  are  married  women, 
many  of  them  coming  as  "picture  brides''  or  being  married  upon 
arrival  in  this  country.  Most  of  the  women  have  come  to  the  United 
States  within  the  last  five  years,  and  inasmuch  as  the  majority  are 
the  wives  of  farmers  and  business  men,  their  immigration  marks  the 
progress  of  the  Japanese  from  the  position  of  migratory  laborers  to 
settled  residents,  usually  farming  or  engaging  in  business  for  them 
selves.  The  number  of  children  under  16  years  of  age  is  perhaps  in 
excess  of  4,000,  and  the  majority  of  these  are  native-born  and  of 
immature  years. 

Like  the  earlier  immigration  of  the  Chinese  and  the  present  immi 
gration  of  most  of  the  south  and  east  European  races,  the  majority 
of  the  Japanese  immigrants  have  been  of  the  agricultural  class — 


49 

small  farmers,  farmers'  sons,  and  a  few  farm  laborers.  The  number 
of  industrial  wage-earners,  clerks,  professional  men,  and  shopkeepers 
has  been  much  smaller,  while  the  number  of  men  coming  with  capital 
has  been  very  small  indeed.  Moreover,  the  majority  have  left  their 
native  land  for  Hawaii  or  continental  United  States  when  young 
men,  say  under  25,  though  the  number  who  have  been  engaged  in 
farming" or  in  business  on  their  own  account  and  have  reached  maturer 
years  before  emigrating  is  not  small. 

The  great  majority  of  the  Japanese  in  this  country  have  been 
employed  in  railroad  and  general  construction  work,  as  agricultural 
laborers,  cannery  hands,  lumber-mill  and  logging-camp  laborers, 
in  the  various  branches  of  domestic  service  and  in  business  estab 
lishments  conducted  by  their  countrymen.  Smaller  numbers  have 
been  employed  in  coal  and  ore  mining,  smelting,  meat  packing,  and 
salt  making.  In  the  building  trades  they  have  done  little  save  in 
making  repairs  and  in  doing  cabinetwork  for  their  countrymen. 
They  have  found  little  place  in  manufacturing  establishments  in 
cities.  In  contrast  to  the  Chinese,  they  have  found  little  employ 
ment  in  shoe,  clothing,  and  cigar  factories.  That  they  have  seldom 
been  considered  for  " inside"  work  of  the  kind  in  which  the  Chinese 
were  formerly  extensively  employed,  is  explained  by  a  number  of 
facts.  A  hostile  public  sentiment,  with  the  boycott  in  the  back 
ground,  was  sufficient  to  cause  many  of  the  employers  to  discharge 
their  Chinese  employees.  This  experience  with  Chinese  labor  has 
caused  most  employers  to  look  elsewhere  than  to  the  Japanese  for 
laborers  needed  in  such  industries.  More  important,  perhaps,  is  the 
fact  that,  coincident  with  the  immigration  of  the  Japanese,  cheap 
labor  of  other  kinds  has  become  available  in  the  large  number  of 
Italians,  Russians,  Porto  Ricans,  Spaniards,  and  others  finding 

E laces  in  the  population  of  San  Francisco,  where  most  of  the  manu- 
icturing  is  conducted.  The  labor  of  these  classes,  and  especially 
of  the  women  and  children,  has  been  cheaper  than  that  of  the  Japa 
nese  for  the  making  of  cigars  and  work  of  that  character.  Finally, 
in  machine  shops,  foundries,  and  similar  places,  they  have  seldom 
been  given  employment,  for  these  trades  are  well  organized  and 
there  has  been  strong  opposition  by  union  men  to  the  employment 
of  Asiatics  as  helpers  or  as  common  laborers. 

Many  Japanese  laborers  migrate  from  one  locality  and  from  one 
industry  to  another  during  the  year.  However,  the  following  state 
ment  snows  roughly  the  occupational  distribution  of  those  in  the 
West  during  the  summer  of  1909. 

Approximately  10,000  were  employed  by  the  steam  railway  com 
panies.  Between  6,000  and  7,000  of  these  were  employed  as  section 
hands  and  members  of  ''extra  gangs/'  constituting  between  one- 
seventh  and  one-sixth  of  the  laborers  in  the  maintenance-of-way 
departments  in  the  Western  division.  Most  of  the  others  were 
employed  as  laborers  and  helpers  in  railway  shops  and  about  round 
houses  and  stations,  though  a  few  were  employed  in  the  department 
of  bridges  and  buildings  in  the  Northwest.  More  than  2,200  were 
employed  in  67  of  the  1,400  or  1,500  lumber  mills  of  Oregon  and 
Washington,  which,  altogether,  employ  something  more  than  35,000 
men.  Some  3,600  were  employed  in  salmon  canneries  in  Alaska, 
Washington,  and  Oregon,  where  the  number  was  larger  than  that 
of  any  other  race,  while  a  few  hundred  engaged  in  fishing  along  the 

(58534— 11 4 


50 

coast  of  California.  The  number  of  Japanese  employed  in  the 
mines  of  Wyoming,  Utah,  southern  Colorado,  and  northern  New 
Mexico  was  something  less  than  2,000  in  a  total  of  some  27,000  to 
30,000  employed  in  the  four  States.  Something  less  than  200  were 
employed  in  three  smelters  in  Utah  and  Nevada  and  an  approxi 
mately  equal  number  in  an  iron  and  steel  plant  at  Pueblo,  Colo. 
Several  hundred,  all  told,  including  those  employed  in  constructing 
irrigation  ditches  in  the  arid  districts,  were  engaged  in  genera]  con 
struction  work.  Perhaps  during  the  summer  months  the  number 
engaged  as  farmers  and  farm  laborers  in  agricultural  pursuits  in 
Washington  was  3,000.  in  Oregon  1,000,  in  Idaho  800,  in  Utah  1,025, 
in  Colorado  possibly  3,000,  in  California  30,000,  with  smaller  num 
bers  in  the  other  States  and  Territories  of  the  Western  division. 
The  numbers  employed  by  street-railway  companies  in  Los  Angeles, 
in  two  salt  refineries  near  San  Francisco,  and  otherwise  outside  of 
towns  and  cities,  were  comparativelv  small,  though  amounting  to 
several  hundred  all  told.  As  opposed  to  these,  the  number  engaged 
in  city  trades  and  business  —  in  the  West  —  may  be  estimated  at  from 
22;000  to  26,000. 

Any  general  statement  concerning  the  employment  of  Japanese 
is  likely  to  prove  misleading,  because  the  circumstances  have  differed 
from  industry  to  industry  and  from  one  establishment  to  another. 
Reserving  agricultural  pursuits  for  later  comment,  however,  the 
following  general  statements  may  be  made  as  a  result  of  the  inves 
tigation  of  the  several  industries  in  which  the  members  of  this  race 
are  employed: 

(1)  In  a  number  of  instances  the  first  employment  of  the  members 
of  this  race  has  been  to  break  strikes.     This  is  true  of  coal  mining 
in  southern  Colorado  and  Utah,  where  they  were  first  employed  in 
1903-4,  of  smelting  in  Utah,  where  they  replaced  Greeks  striking  for 
higher  wages  in  1907,  and  in  the  shops  of  one  railway  compan}^.     In 
the  great  majority  of  instances,  however,  they  have  been  introduced 
to  replace  Chinese  or  when  employers  were  experiencing  difficulty 
in  finding  an  adequate  number  of  steady  white  men  to  work  as  com 
mon  laborers  and  as  helpers  at  the  rate  of  wages  which  had  obtained. 
Seldom  have  other  classes  been  discharged  in  large  numbers  to  make 
room  for   the  Japanese;  on   the   contrary,   Japanese   have   usually 
been  employed  to  fill  places  vacated  by  others  because  of  the  more 
remunerative  or  agreeable  employment  to  be  found  elsewhere. 

(2)  A  premium  has  been  placed  upon  the  substitution  of  Japanese 
rather  than  of  other  immigrant  races  by  the  fact  that  they  were  made 
easily  available  by  the  Japanese  contractors,  and  that  because  of  the 
position  of  the  contractors,   their  employment  involved  the  least 
inconvenience  to  the  employers.     Almost  without  exception  the  Jap 
anese  employed  in  the  industries  of  the  West  have  been  secured 
through  Japanese  "bosses"  who  undertake  to  provide  the  number  of 
men  required,  and  frequently  keep  the  "time"  of  the  men,  and  pay 
them  off,  in  return  for  an  interpreter's  fee  of  $1  per  month  (generally 
collected),  a  commission  on  their  earnings  (usually  5  per  cent  but 
sometimes  less),  and  the  privilege  (generally  exercised)  of  supplying 
the  men  with  such  goods  as  they  do  not  purchase  at  local  stores. 


These  contractors  have  had  a  supply  of  labor  available;  other  cheap 

largely 
the  cities  of  the  Middle  West,  which  involves  competition  with  the 


laborers  must  be  "recruited,"  largely  through  employment  agents  in 


51 

industries  more  conveniently  reached  from  these  supply  centers. 
This  organization  of  the  Japanese  laborers  must  be  emphasized  above 
all  other  things  in  explaining  the  demand  for  them. 

(3)  The  Japanese  nave  usually  worked  for  a  lower  wage  than  the 
members  of  any  other  race  save  the  Chinese  and  the  Mexican.     In 
the  salmon  canneries  the  Chinese  have  been  paid  higher  wages  than 
the  Japanese  engaged  in  the  same  occupations.     In  the  lumber  indus 
try  all  races,  including  the  East  Indian,  have  been  paid  higher  wages 
than  the  Japanese  doing  the  same  kind  of  work.     As  section  hands 
and  laborers  in  railway  shops  they  have  been  paid  as  much  as  or  more 
than  the  Chinese  and  more  than  the  Mexicans,  but  as  a  rule  less  than 
the   white  men  of  many  races.     In  coal  mining  they  have   been 
employed  chiefly  as  miners  and  loaders  and  have  worked  at  the  com 
mon  piece  rate,  but  in  Wyoming,  where  they  have  been  employed 
as  "company  men,"  they  were  paid  less  per  day  than  the  European 
immigrants  employed  in  large  numbers  until  their  acceptance  as 
members  of  the  United  .Mine  Workers  in  1907  gave  them  the  benelit 
oTHie  standard  rate  established  by  bargaining  between  the  union  and 
the  operators.     As  construction  laborers  they  have  usually,  though 
not  invariably,  been  paid  less  than  the  other  races  employed  except 
the  East  Indians  and  the  Mexicans.     Competition  between  the  races 
engaged  in  unskilled  work  appears  generally  to  have  hinged  upon  the 
rate  of  wages  paid  rather  than  the  efficiency  of  the  races  employed. 

(4)  During  the  period  when  the  Japanese  were  arriving  in  this 
country  in  largest  numbers,   the  question  of  differences  in  wages 
between  the  white   races   and  the  Japanese   began  to   solve  itself 
to  such  an  extent  that  gradually  the  variation  became  trifling  and 
there  were  instances  where  there  was  no  diversity  in  the  wages  paid 
each.     This  is  accounted  for  partly  by  the  skillful  bargaining  of  the 
few  large  contractors  who  have  supplied  the  great  majority  of  the 
laborers  for  work  in  canneries,  on  the  railroads,  in  the  lumber  mills, 
and  for  other  industrial  enterprises,  partly  by  the  fact  that  there 
was  an  increasing  demand  for  Japanese  labor  in  other  industries,  which 
one  after  the  other  had  been  opened  to  them. 

(5)  Though  regarded  as  less  desirable  than  the  Chinese  and  the 
Mexicans,  roadmasters  and  section  foremen  usually  prefer  Japanese 
to  the  Italians,  Greeks,  and  Slavs,  as  section  hands. 

In  the  railway  shops  they  are  usually  given  higher  rank  than  the 
Mexicans  and  Greeks  and  sometimes  the  Italians  as  well.  They  are 
versatile,  adaptable,  and  ambitious,  and  are  regarded  as  good  laborers 
and  helpers.  In  salmon  canning,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  univer 
sally  regarded  as  much  less  desirable  than  the  Chinese  and  are 
inferior  to  the  Filipinos  who  have  recently  engaged  in  the  industry  in 
Alaska.  Not  only  are  the  Japanese  less  experienced  in  the  industry 
than  the  Chinese,  but  they  are  considered  less  reliable  in  contractual 
relations  and  do  not  have  the  highly  developed  instinct  of  workman 
ship  which  causes  the  Chinaman  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  careful 
and  the  most  trustworthy  laborer.  The  distinct  preference  for  Chinese 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  largest  salmon  packers  stipulate 
in  the  contracts  made  with  Chinese  contractors  that  the  Japanese 
employed  shall  not  exceed  a  certain  number,  or  that  they  shall  not 
exceed  the  number  of  Chinese.  The  industry  almost  from  its  inception 
has  been  dependent  upon  Asiatic  labor  (for  the  work  in  the  canneries) 


52 

and  the  numerous  European  races  engaged  in  fishing  have  seldom  been 
tried  as  "cannery  hands."  In  the  lumber  and  other  industries  there 
is  greater  difference  of  opinion.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  Japanese 
have  been  regarded  as  satisfactory  laborers  at  the  wage  paid.  In  salt 
refineries  and  in  some  other  places  where  the  labor  conditions  are  hard, 
they  find  favor  because  they  are  willing  to  accept  such  conditions. 

(6)  Regardless  of  these  considerations,  however,  in  most  branches 
of  industry  the  Japanese  have  found  it  difficult  to  make  much  advance. 
In  the  lumber  industry  the  great  majority  of  employers  have  never 
engaged  them  at  all.     In  some  instances  this  is  explained  by  the  race 
antipathy  of  the  employer,  and  more  frequently  by  that  of  the  white 
employees,  who  object  strongly  to  the  employment  of  Japanese,  save 
possibly  in  the  yards  and  along  the  streams  where  there  is  work  other 
men  refuse  to  do.     In  several  instances  the  members  of  the  commu 
nity  have  exhibited  their  opposition  to  the  employment  of  this  race  by 
demanding  their  discharge  and,  upon  occasions,  threatening  violence. 
The  same  situation  is  found  in  most  industries  in  which  the  Japanese 
have  been  employed  where  large  groups  of  men  are  brought  together 
at  one  place  and  the  work  is  of  such  a  character  that  the  members  of 
different  races  must  work  in  close  association.     While  exceptions  are 
found  in  a  few  other  industries,  it  is  mainly  in  the  salmon  canneries 
and  in  railway  work  that  a  hostile  public  opinion  has  had  little  effect 
upon  the  employment  of  Japanese. 

(7)  Chiefly  because  of  the  attitude  of  other  laborers  .and  the  fact 
that  many  of  the  Japanese  do  not  understand  English  and  must  be  set 
at  work  in  groups  with  an  interpreter,  the  Japanese  have  generally 
been  engaged  in  unskilled  work.     In  the  lumber  industry  a  few  have 
advanced  to  semiskilled  positions,  but  they  have  not  made  the  prog 
ress  attained  by  the  members  of  the  same  race  in  British  Columbia, 
where  skilled  white  men  have  been  more  scarce.     In  fact,  in  Washing 
ton  and  Oregon  few  Japanese  have  been  employed  except  in  the 
" yards."     Nor  have  they  found  a  place  in  catching  fish  for  the  can 
neries  as  they  did  in  British  Columbia,  while  in  the  canneries  they  are, 
as  a  rule,  employed  to  do  the  unskilled  work  during  the  busiest  season, 
while  the  Chinese  are  employed  more  regularly  and.fill  the  positions 
requiring  skill.     The  Japanese  likewise  occupy  the  lowest  positions 
in  the  fruit  and  vegetable  canneries,  and  are  engaged  principally  in 
preparing  fruit  and  vegetables  for  canning.     In  the  coal  mines,  with 
the  exception  of  Wyoming,  they  are  employed  as  miners  and  loaders — 
occupations  in  which  the  great  majority  of  the  new  immigrants  are 
employed,  because  the  work  is  less  regular  and  more  disagreeable  than 
in  the  other  occupations.     Likewise  in  the  three  smelters  where  they 
are  employed  they  share  the  commonest  labor  with  Greeks  and  other 
recent  immigrants  from  south  and  east  European  countries.     The 
Japanese  have  made  greater  progress  in  railway  shops,  perhaps,  than 
in  any  other  nonagncultural  employment.     Though  most  of  those 
employed  in  shops  are  unskilled  laborers,  they  have  risen  somewhat  in 
the  scale  of  occupations  and  in  several  instances  are  found  occupying 
positions  which,  with  their  versatility  and    capacity,  might   serve 
them  as  stepping-stones  to  skilled  work. 

These,  in  brief,  are  the  more  general  facts  relating  to  the  employ 
ment  of  Japanese  in  nonagricultural  industries.  The  Japanese  who 
found  their  first  employment  in  the  canneries  and  as  section  hands 
and  general  construction  laborers  have  shown  a  strong  tendency  to 


53 

leave  such  employment  for  agricultural  work  or  for  occupations  in  the 
cities.  The  explanation  of  this  movement  is'  found  partly  in  the 
higher  earnings  .which  might  be  realized,  in  the  better  conditions  of 
living  which  might  be  found,  and  in  a  very  evident  tendency  exhib 
ited  by  the  Japanese  to  rise  to  the  occupational  and  economic  position 
they  had  enjoyed  in  their  native  land.  In  this  way  the  large  number 
who  have  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  or  in  city  trades  upon  their 
arrival  have  been  added  to  by  those  who  were  leaving  their  employ 
ment  in  other  industries.  As  a  result  of  this  movement  the  number 
of  Japanese  engaged  in  railroad  and  general  construction  work,  and 
in  coal  mining  in  all  of  the  States  save  Utah,  has  been  decreasing, 
especially  since  restrictions  were  placed  upon  the  immigration  of 
laborers  from  Japan  and  Hawaii.  Their  places  have  been  filled  by  an 
increasing  number  of  European  immigrants,  as  a  rule  at  higher  wages. 
Business  having  been  in  a  more  or  less  depressed  condition  throughout 
the  West  since  the  end  of  1907,  the  partial  substitution  involved  has 
not  caused  much  difficulty.  It  may  be  said  further  that  none  of  these 
industries,  save  salmon  canning,  has  been  materially  assisted  by  or 
has  become  dependent  upon  Japanese  labor.  In  the  salmon  can 
neries  Chinese  and  laborers  of  other  races  than  Japanese  are  desired. 
With  the  beet-sugar  industry  in  several  States  and  certain  other  agri 
cultural  industries  in  California  it  is  different,  for  the  farmers  in  many 
localities  have  for  years  relied  upon  Asiatic  labor  until  a  situation  has 
developed  in  which  the  substitution  of  other  races  will  involve  incon 
venience  and  will  require  radical  changes  in  order  to  make  the  neces 
sary  readjustment. 

In  1909  it  is  probable  that  not  far  from  30,000  Japanese  were 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  in  California  during  the  summer 
months.  As  laborers  they  occupy  a  dominant  position  in  most  of  the 
intensive,  specialized  agriculture  which  has  come  to  prevail,  and  espe 
cially  in  that  which  involves  much  hand  work  and  is  seasonal  in  char 
acter.  They  occupy  substantially  the  position  held  by  the  Chinese 
twenty  years  ago  in  the  same  and  similar  industries,  less  important 
then,  but  which  now  give  rise  to  products  representing  possibly  one- 
half  of  the  entire  amount  marketed.  The  Japanese  do  practically  all 
of  the  hand  work  in  the  berry  patches,  two-thirds  of  that  in  the  sugar- 
beet  fields,  perhaps  one-half  of  that  in  the  vineyards,  and  a  somewhat 
smaller  part  of  that  in  the  fields  devoted  to  raising  vegetables  and  in 
the  orchards.  In  the  hop  yards  they  do  not  generally  predominate 
except  in  the  training  and  care  of  the  vines  and  in  picking  in  some 
localities,  while  on  general  farms  they  find  little  employment.  On 
farms  conducted  by  white  men  they  do  very  little  of  the  work  with 
teams  and  have  as  their  share  the  smaller  part  of  the  hand  work  in 
orchards  and  vineyards  except  during  the  busiest  seasons,  whether 
during  cultivation  or  harvest,  when  they  occupy  a  much  more  con 
spicuous  position,  and  their  dominancy  is  in  part  due  to  this  fact. 

Because  of  differences  in  climate,  elevation,  and  soil,  much  special 
ization  in  farming  has  developed  where  the  problems  of  transportation 
and  labor  could  be  solved.  First  the  Chinese  and  then  the  Japanese 
have  been  organized  and  easily  moved  from  one  community  to 
another,  so  that  no  great  restriction  has  been  placed  upon  a  special 
ization  which  has  called  for  many  laborers  at  one  time  and  relatively 
few  at  another.  Moreover,  it  has  been  possible,  as  in  the  beet-sugar 
industry  and  in  vegetable  growing  along  the  Sacramento  and  San 


54 

Joaquin  Rivers,  to  engage  extensively  in  agricultural  enterprises  in 
advance  of  a  settled  population  of  any  considerable  dimensions.  As 
a  consequence  of  these  several  facts,  many  California  communities 
have  a  degree  of  specialization  in  agriculture  which  makes  it  necessary 
to  induce  many  persons  to  come  from  other  localities  to  assist  for  a 
time  in  the  farm  work.  The  need  is  made  all  the  greater  by  the  fact 
that  in  marketing  the  products  frequently  much  additional  labor  is 
required  to  "man"  packing  houses,  canneries,  or  wineries.  At  Vaca- 
ville  4,000  persons  must  come  from  other  localities  to  assist  in  picking, 
packing,  and  drying  the  fruit.  At  Watsonville  2,000  laborers  are 
required  from  other  localities  to  assist  with  the  strawberry  and  apple 
harvests,  which  are  separated  by  a  period  of  many  weeks.  At  Fresno 
from  3,000  to  4,000  extra  laborers  are  needed  for  three  weeks  in  the 
autumn  to  harvest  the  raisin  grapes,  while  others  are  required  in  the 
packing  houses  and  wineries.  About  Oxnard  for  several  weeks  2,000 
extra  men  are  needed.  Numerous  other  instances  might  be  given — 
for  they  are  fairly  general — of  a  specialization  by  communities  which 
requires  for  a  time  a  labor  force  larger  than  that  which  is  normally 
supported  by  the  community,  involving  the  necessity  of  securing 
" extra  help'7  from  other  localities. 

These  facts  are  important,  also,  in  connection  with  the  problem  of 
lodging  and  board,  which,  in  less  extreme  form,  is  met  with  wherever 
"farm  hands"  are  employed.  In  these  specialized  industries,  where 
a  large  number  of  men  are  required  for  a  few  weeks,  the  problem 
becomes  difficult  and  the  necessary  migration  places  a  great  emphasis 
upon  an  organization  which  will  give  the  farmer  the  number  of  men 
desired  at  the  time  needed,  without  the  inconvenience  of  keeping  the 
"time"  of  each  man  and  paying  him  frequently  and  individually  for 
the  work  done.  The  problems  thus  indicated  the  Chinese  and  Jap 
anese  have  solved.  They  are  accustomed  to  hand  labor;  have  usually 
been  without  family,  and  could  easily  migrate  from  one  community 
to  another;  have  been  provided  with  comparatively  cheap  lodgings 
and  have  boarded  themselves,  when  white  men,  as  a  rule,  must  be  pro 
vided  with  board;  and  have  been  organized  so  that  it  was  possible 
for  the  grower  to  secure  the  number  of  men  desired,  and  have  them 
supervised,  and  paid  off  and  discharged,  as  a  group. 

The  Japanese  first  engaged  in  California  agriculture  as  fruit  pickers 
at  Vacaville  near  the  close  of  the  eighties.  By  1895  they  had  found 
employment  in  which  the  Chinese  had  been  engaged  in  every  locality 
in  California  as  far  south  as  Fresno.  Since  1900  they  have  made  their 
appearance  in  southern  California  and  since  1904  they  have  been 
employed  in  most  of  the  localities  in  that  part  of  the  State.  In  some 
instances  the  Japanese  have  been  employed  where  a  new  industry 
was  being  introduced,  as,  for  example,  the  growing  of  sugar  beets  in 
certain  sections  of  the  State;  in  others  they  have  taken  the  places 
vacated  by  Chinese,  who  were  diminishing  in  number;  while  in  other 
cases  they  have  displaced  the  Chinese  or  white  men  by  underbidding 
or  by  their  superior  organization.  In-  most  of  the  localities  in  which 
Chinese  were  employed  at  the  time  the  Japanese  came  to  the  com 
munity — as  about  Vacaville,  Fresno,  and  on  the  Sacramento  River — 
they  were  soon  extensively  displaced  by  the  Japanese,  who  had  the 
same  organization,  were  younger,  more  adaptable,  and  more  agree 
able,  and  who,  when  they  did  not  work  for  a  lower  wage,  did  more 
work.  In  a  few  instances  where  white  men  had  been  employed  to 


55 

replace  the  Chinese,  who  became  scarce  and  difficult  to  secure,  the 
white  men  were  displaced  also  by  Japanese.  The  citrus-fruit  industry 
of  southern  California  is  an  excellent  example  of  one  in  the  develop 
ment  of  which  Asiatic  labor  had  taken  little  part,  but  in  which  within 
the  last  six  years  so  many  Japanese  have  found  employment  that 
they  now  do  perhaps  one-half  of  the  picking  and  by  no  means  a  small 
percentage  or  the  packing.  Their  wage  per  hour  has  been  less  than 
that  paid  to  white  men,  and  generally  to  Mexicans,  and  frequently 
when  picking  at  piece  rates  they  have  been  paid  less  than  pickers  of 
other  races.  Moreover,  they  have  been  easily  obtained  from ' i  camps  " 
maintained  by  "  contractors,"  who  are  paid  upon  the  completion  of 
the  work  or  later  for  such  work  as  the  men  under  their  control  do. 
The  lower  wage,  the  ease  in  providing  living  accommodations,  and 
this  convenient  organization,  together  with  a  tendency  for  white  per 
sons  who  have  followed  this  occupation  to  leave  when  work  may  be 
obtained  elsewhere,  explain  the  rapid  advance  the  Japanese  have 
made.  Though  it  is  probable  that  there  has  been  little  or  no  net  dis 
placement  of  white  persons  in  the  industry,  they  have  been  displaced 
very  extensively  in  certain  localities.  Thus  the  dominant  position  of 
the  Japanese  has  been  gained  as  a  result  of  the  decreasing  number  of 
Chinese,  and  because  of  the  fact  that  they  have  been  well  fitted  to 
maintain  and  to  extend  the  scheme  of  things  developed  through  the 
employment  of  the  Chinese,  and  because  they  were  cheap  laborers. 
The  emphasis,  however,  must  be  placed  upon  the  first  facts  rather 
than  upon  the  fact  that  the  Japanese  have  been  cheaper  laborers  than 
the  other  races  available  for  employment  in  most  parts  of  the  State, 
The  wages  of  Japanese  laborers  in  California  have  advanced  rapidly 
since  their  first  employment.  Indeed,  their  wages  increased  rapidly 
between  1 900  and  1906,  when  the  largest  numbers  were  being  added  to 
the  labor  supply.  The  agricultural  industries  of  the  State,  and  of 
the  other  States  of  the  West  producing  beet  sugar,  were  rapidly 
expanding  and  giving  rise  to  an  increasing  demand  for  such  labor 
as  the  Japanese  could  furnish.  They  have  also  found  employment 
in  other  industries,  which,  beginning  about  1898,  made  effective  com 
petition  for  Japanese  engaged  in  California  agriculture.  Further 
more,  the  Japanese  have  been  quick  to  take  advantage  of  oppor 
tunities  offered  to  secure  an  increase  of  wages,  and  in  this  tneir 
organization  under  contractors  has  been  of  material  assistance, 
especially  in  recent  years  when  much  complaint  has  been  made  of 
the  increasing  wages  and  uncertainty  of  the  supply  of  seasonal  labor 
on  account  of  the  attitude  of  the  Japanese.  As  a  result  of  this  rapid 
increase  of  Japanese  wages  and  the  slow  increase  in  the  wages  of  white 
men,  the  difference  in  the  wages  the  classes  have  been  paid  has  dimin 
ished  until  now  the  variation  is  trifling.  In  fact,  since  the  restriction 
of  Japanese  immigration,  they  are  occasionally  paid  higher  wages  than 
white  men  doing  the  same  work.  These  cases  are  very  exceptional, 
however.  For  regular  work  in  most  communities  the  Japanese  were 
found  in  1909  to  receive  less  pay  than  white  men,  or,  if  they  were  paid 
as  much  on  a  day  basis,  they  worked  longer  hours  or  the  work  was 
especially  irksome.  In  many  districts  the  Japanese  received  less  pay 
for  harvest  work  than  did  white  men,  but  in  other  communities  all 
races  received  the  same  wages  for  similar  work.  Frequently,  how 
ever,  their  earnings  are  very  much  larger  than  those  of  the  other  races, 
because  of  the  piece-rate  system  which  prevails  in  the  cultivation  and 


56 


harvest  of  sugar  beets,  in  the  picking  of  grapes,  in  training  the  vines 
and  in  picking  hops,  and  in  much  of  the  other  agricultural  work.  On 
piece  rates  they  work  much  more  rapidly  than  most  other  races  and 
usually  work  longer  hours  as  well,  with  the  result  that  their  earnings 
in  the  hop  yards,  sugar-beet  fields,  and  vineyards  have  been  found  to 
average  considerably  more  than  those  of  any  other  race.  This  bears 
upon  the  subject  only  in  so  far  as  it  explains  the  large  number  of  Jap 
anese  who  have  sought  such  employment.  In  explaining  the  results  of 
their  competition  with  other  races,  pertaining  to  wages,  the  day  wages 
and  the  piece  rates  alone  should  be  compared.  Nor  do  averages 
based  upon  figures  collected  from  different  communities  have  any 
particular  significance  in  connection  with  this  matter.  They  are  of 
importance,  however,  in  showing  the  general  level  of  wages  which 
prevails  in  agricultural  as  compared  to  that  which  prevails  in  other 
employments.  The  averages  earned  by  unskilled  laborers,  with  and 
without  board,  are  shown  in  the  following  table.  It  should  be  added 
that  board  for  white  ranch  hands  is  commonly  reckoned  at  either  50 
or  75  cents,  and  for  Japanese  at  from  23  to  30  cents  per  day. 

TABLE  9. — Average  wages  per  day  earned  by  each  specified  number  of  farm  laborers  in 

California,  by  race. 


Race. 

Farm  laborers  employed  regularly. 

.  Farm  laborers  employed  temporarily. 

With  board.            Without  board. 

With  board. 

Without  board. 

Number. 

Average 
wage  per  Number, 
day. 

Average 
wage  per 
day. 

Number. 

Average 
wage  per 
day. 

Number. 

Average 
wage  per 
day. 

Chinese 

108 

$1.  406               26 
66 

$1.559 
1.534 
1.667 
1.623 
1.422 
1.889 

35 

$1.454 

99 
253 

$1.  743 
1.441 

East  Indian  

Italian    . 

101 
93 

1.  108               22 
1.  396              863 
85 

181 
40 

1.121 
1.421 

Japanese  

2,654 
82 
286 

1.615 
1.721 
1.855 

Mexican 

Miscellaneous  white..           411 

1.311              199 

53 

1.286 

The  Japanese  agricultural  laborers  were  at  first  almost  all  of  the 
migratory  class  engaged  in  seasonal  work  only.  Gradually,  however, 
like  the  Chinese  and  other  races  beginning  in  the  same  way,  an 
increasing  percentage  of  them  have  found  employment  in  the  same 
locality  throughout  the  year.  A  small  percentage,  also,  as  among  the 
Chinese,  have  come  to  engage  in  occupations  requiring  work  with 
teams.  Most  of  these,  however,  are  farming  for  themselves  or 
employees  of  farmers,  for  among  the  Japanese  as  well  as  Chinese, 
Italians,  and  Portuguese,  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  employ  only 
persons  of  their  own  race  to  fill  all  positions. 

Within  ten  years  the  Japanese  have  become  conspicuous  as  farmers. 
In  California,  according  to  the  returns  made  by  the  secretaries  of 
Japanese  associations,  which,  where  checked,  have  been  found  to  be 
approximately  correct,  the  members  of  this  race  in  1909  owned 
16,449|  acres  of  agricultural  land  and  leased  137,233^  acres  more, 
80,232  acres  of  it  for  cash  and  57,001^  for  a  share  of  the  crop.  The 
corresponding  figures  for  1904  were  2,442  acres  owned  and  54,831 
leased,  35,258J  for  cash  and  19,572J  for  a  share  of  the  crop.  This 
does  not  include  so-called  "contract  leases,"  where  a  part  of  the  work 


57 

involved  is  covered  by  a  contract  for  the  season  or  a  period  of  years. 
The  amount  of  land  controlled  by  Japanese  in  several  other  States  in 
the  West  was  in  1909  approximately  as  follows:  Colorado,  20,000 
acres;  Idaho,  7,072;  Utah,  6,000;  Washington,  7,000;  Oregon,  3,500; 
more  than  90  per  cent  of  it  being  under  cash  or  share  lease.  In 
Colorado  most  of  this  land  is  used  for  the  growing  of  sugar  beets  and 
potatoes;  in  Utah,  sugar  beets  and  vegetables;  in  Idaho,  sugar  beets; 
in  Washington  and  Oregon,  vegetables  and  berries;  in  California, 
vegetables,  berries,  deciduous  fruits,  grapes,  celery,  melons,  hops, 
and  other  crops  requiring  much  hand  labor  and  usually  intensive 
cultivation. 

The  investigation  shows  that  the  farms  tend  to  fall  under  the  control 
of  any  capable  race  which  controls  the  supply  of  labor  where  much 
labor  is  essential,  as  it  is  in  the  growing  of  sugar  beets,  berries,  vege 
tables,  and  fruit  of  different  lands.  A  large  part  of  the  leasing  by 
Japanese,  like  the  less  extensive  leasing  by  the  less  progressive  Chinese 
beiore  them,  has  been  incidental  to  their  dominant  position  in  the 
labor  supply.  This  explains  nearly  all  of  the  leasing  of  lands  in 
Colorado,  Utah,  and  Idaho,  where  it  has  been  chiefly  incidental  to 
the  growing  of  sugar  beets,  the  Japanese,  like  the  German-Russians, 
advancing  rapidly  from  contract  labor  for  the  hand  work  to  a  share 
of  the  crop  in  return  for  the  hand  work;  from  a  fairly  independent 
share  lease  to  an  independent  cash  lease.  Much  of  the  leasing  in 
California  is  explained  in  the  same  way.  This  is  true  of  the  growing 
of  deciduous  fruits  and  vegetables,  where  in  several  instances  the 
majority  of  the  orchards  and  farms  have  been  leased  by  Japanese— 
in  general,  the  same  evolution  in  the  form  of  tenure  taking  place  as 
noted  above.  In  other  cases,  however,  the  leasing  and  the  ownership 
of  land  by  Japanese  is  merely  an  index  of  their  comparative  ability 
and  has  no  close  relation  to  their  position  as  laborers.  This  is  true 
generally  of  the  leasing  of  land  in  Washington  and  Oregon,  of  some 
in  Utah  and  Colorado,  and  of  much  of  the  leasing  and  the  purchasing 
of  land  in  California. 

Among  other  things  shown  by  the  investigation  of  Japanese  farming 
were  the  following: 

(1)  That  because  of  the  convenience  of  the  tenant  system  and  the 
difficulty  farmers  have  experienced  at  times  in  securing  laborers, 
there  has  been  a  strong  inducement  to  lease  land  to  a  member  of  the 
race  most  prominent  in  the  labor  supply; 

(2)  That  a  further  inducement  has  been  found  in  the  fact  that  both 
Chinese  and  Japanese,  and  the  latter  particularly,  in  their  anxiety  to 
establish  themselves  as  farmers,  had  offered  such  high  rents  that 
leasing  his  land  gave  the  owner  the  best  returns,  allowance  being 
made  for  the  diminished  risk ; 

(3)  That  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  localities,  the  Japanese 
have  been  the  most  effective  bidders  for  land  and  have  overbid  the 
Chinese,  the  Italians,  and  native  white  men,  and,  moreover,  have 
sometimes  been  effective  bidders  because  they  would  reduce  land  to 
cultivation  which  white  men  would  not  lease  on  such  terms; 

(4)  That  much  of  the  leasing  is  closely  related  to  a  labor  contract 
in  which  the  tenant  does  certain  stipulated  kinds  of  work  in  return 
for  a  share  of  the  crop,  but  that  there  has  been  a  strong  tendency  for 
the  Japanese  to  work  for  a  greater  degree  of  independence  until  they 
became  cash  tenants  or  landowners; 


58 

(5)  That  little  capital  has  been  required  for  a  Japanese  to  become 
a  tenant  farmer  because  (1)  of  the  formation  of  partnerships  among 
them,  (2)  of  the  provision  of  necessary  equipment  by  the  landowner 
for  the  use  of  share  tenants,  and  (3)  of  the  advancing  of  money  by 
shippers  and  others  in  competing  for'  the  control  of  the  crop,  the 
result  being  that  many  of  the  Japanese  farmers  have  required  little 
or  no  capital  to  begin  with; 

(6)  That  the  leasing  of  land  to  Japanese,  as  to  Chinese  and  Italians, 
has  resulted  in  a  displacement  of  laborers  of  other  races  because,  on 
account  of  the  disinclination  of  white  persons  to  work  for  them  or 
their  own  favoritism,  they  employ  persons  of  their  own  race  almost 
exclusively ; 

(7)  That  the  Japanese  farmers  usually  pay  their  Japanese  laborers 
more  than  the  local  rate,  but  these  wages  are  for  a  longer  work  day 
and  for  the  better  men  they  are  usually  in  a  position  to  select  from 
those  available; 

(8)  That  in  growing  strawberries,  asparagus,  and  certain  vegetables 
the  Japanese  farmers  have  increased  the  acreage  in  some  instances 
until  the  industry  has  become  unprofitable  for  them  as  well  as  others; 

(9)  That  because  of  the  strong  desire  to  remain  independent  of  the 
wage  relation  and  the  limitations  placed  upon  the  occupations  in 
which  they  may  engage,   the  Japanese  farmers  in  some  instances 
appear  not  to  have  been  discouraged  in  gaining  control  of  land  as 
long  as  there  was  a  prospect  of  a  small  profit  to  be  realized. 

Though  in  many  localities  the  Japanese  laborers  were  at  first 
received  with  great  favor,  widespread  dissatisfaction  with  them  is 
now  found  and  they  are  almost  always  disparagingly  compared  with 
the  Chinese,  who,  because  they  are  careful  workmen,  faithful  to  the 
employer,  uncomplaining,  easily  satisfied  with  regard  to  living 
quarters,  and  not  ambitious  to  learn  new  processes  and  to  establish 
themselves  as  independent  farmers,  are  used  in  the  older  agricul 
tural  district  as  the  standard  by  which  others  are  measured.  Indeed, 
while  the  largest  number  of  Japanese  were  arriving  and  there  was  no 
great  question  of  an  insufficiency  of  numbers,  there  was  a  demand  for 
a  limited  immigration  of  Chinese.  Though  many  ranchers  think 
that  for  social  reasons  it  would  be  a  mistaken  policy  to  readmit  the 
Chinese,  they  generally  regard  Asiatic  laborers  as  indispensable  to 
the  prosperity  and  expansion  of  the  agricultural  industries  which 
have  become  predominant  in  the  State,  and  their  almost  unanimous 
preference  is  for  Chinese  rather  than  any  other  Asiatic  race. 

Perhaps  between  12,000  and  15,000  Japanese  are  employed  in  the 
11  States  and  Territories  comprising  the  Western  division,  as  domestic 
servants  in  private  families,  and  as  help  in  restaurants,  hotels,  bar 
rooms,  clubs,  offices,  and  stores  conducted  by  members  of  the  white 
races,  while  some  10,000  or  11,000  more  are  engaged  in  business  for 
themselves  or  are  employed  by  those  who  are  thus  occupied,  or  are 
professional  men  and  craftsmen  working  on  their  own  account.  Few 
are  found  in  city  employments  other  than  those  indicated. 

The  12,000  or  15,000  Japanese  engaged  in  domestic  service  in  its 
broad  sense  are  chiefly  in  a  few  cities  of  the  Pacific  Coast  States,  the 
largest  number  being  in  Seattle,  San  Francisco,  and  Los  Angeles. 
The  greater  number  are  domestics  in  private  families,  dishwashers 
and  "general  help"  in  restaurants,  hotels,  and  saloons,  and  "day 
workers,"  i.  e.,  persons  who  do  work  about  the  house  or  premises 


59 

and  are  paid  so  much  per  hour  or  day.  A  rather  large  percentage 
of  the  domestics  in  private  families  are  "  school  boys,"  who  work 
short  hours  for  which  they  receive  board  and  lodging  and  a  small 
wage,  depending  upon  the  number  of  hours  per  day  they  work.  The 
student  class,  the  farmers'  sons,  and  those  who  had  not  been  gain 
fully  occupied  at  home,  have  furnished  the  larger  percentage  of  those 
engaging  in  these  occupations.  The  work  is  less  arduous  than  in 
the  industrial  employments,  the  conditions  of  living  are  very  much 
better,  and  the  opportunity  to  learn  English  and  certain  American 
methods  are  present.  To  some  extent  they  have  taken  the  places  of 
the  Chinese,  who  are  gradually  decreasing  in  number  and  are  seldom 
available  except  as  comparatively  high-priced  cooks.  In  few 
instances  have  they  increased  in  number  rapidly  enough  to  displace 
white  female  servants,  and  though  the  Japanese  have  been  regarded 
as  the  cheapest  labor,  until  recently  there  has  been  a  scarcity  of 
servants  even  at  increasing  wages,  and  it  should  be  added  that  the 
wages  of  Japanese  servants  increased  rapidly  during  the  decade  of 
the  nineties  and  in  subsequent  years  when  the  largest  number  were 
arriving  in  this  country.  That  their  presence  prevented  a  greater 
increase  of  wages  for  other  classes  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  they 
have  added  greatly  to  the  supply  of  labor  available  for  such  work. 

A  comparatively  large  number  of  Japanese  have  found  employ 
ment  in  restaurants  and  saloons  in  Seattle,  San  Francisco,  and  Los 
Angeles.  Their  wages  have  been  materially  less  than  the  union 
rates,  but  not  always  smaller  than  those  earned  by  unorganized 
workmen.  The  convenience  in  obtaining  them,  their  willingness  to 
work  regularly,  and  their  superiority  over  many  of  the  white  men 
engaged  in  such  unskilled  and  poorly  paid  work  has  caused  them  to 
be  extensively  employed.  The  number  employed  in  saloons,  how 
ever,  and  especially  in  San  Francisco,  has  diminished  rapidly,  as 
many  of  the  patrons  have  objected  strongly  to  their  employment  at 
the  lunch  counters  and  as  cleaners.  This  opposition  has  been 
effective,  moreover,  in  preventing  them  from  being  employed  as  bell 
boys  in  other  than  exceptional  cases  in  California  hotels.  In  Port 
land  and  Seattle,  however,  where  the  anti-Japanese  sentiment  is 
not  so  strong  as  in  San  Francisco,  they  have  been  extensively 
employed  in  this  capacity,  not  in  an  effort  to  substitute  a  cheaper 
class  of  laborers,  but  to  obtain  a  more  stable  and  more  easily  managed 
group.  In  all  of  the  cities  of  the  Pacific  Coast  States  they  have 
found  employment  as  janitors,  porters,  and  assistants  in  stores,  where 
there  has  been  much  difficulty  in  obtaining  desirable  men  at  the 
comparatively  low  wages  which  such  positions  have  paid.  Their 
numbers  have  not  been  sufficiently  large,  however,  to  exercise  any 
considerable  effect  upon  the  wages  of  other  persons  similarly  employed. 

The  number  of  Japanese  business  establishments  in  the  Western 
division  is  in  excess  of  3,000 — probably  not  much  less  than  3,500 — 
two-thirds  or  more  of  which  are  in  the  State  of  California  and  more 
than  one-half  of  the  remainder  in  Washington.  The  number  of 
persons  occupied  in  conducting  these  establishments  is  perhaps 
between  10,000  and  11,000.  Their  character  is  roughly  indicated  by 
the  number  of  each  in  five  cities  in  Washington,  seven  cities  in  Cali 
fornia,  Salt  Lake  City  and  Ogden,  Utah,  Denver,  Colo.,  Portland, 
Oreg.,  and  11  towns  in  Idaho,  from  which  data  were  gathered  by 
agents  of  the  Commission.  Of  a  total  of  2,277,  337  were  Japanese 


60 

hotels  and  boarding  houses,  232  restaurants  serving  Japanese  meals, 
187  barber  shops,  149  restaurants  serving  American  meals,  144 
billiard  and  pool  rooms,  136  tailor  and  dye  shops,  124  provision  and 
supply  stores,  105  cobbler  and  shoe  shops,  97  laundries,  86  curio  and 
art  stores,  44  employment  offices,  32  contractors,  43  expressmen,  32 
watch  and  jewelry  stores  and  26  photograph  galleries.  The  other 
establishments  were  engaged  in  various  branches  of  business  enter 
prise. 

Most  of  these  Japanese  establishments  have  come  into  existence 
during  the  last  seven  or  eight  years  as  a  result  of  the  rapid  increase  of 
the  Japanese  population,  a  well-defined  tendency  exhibited  by  them 
to  rise  from  the  ranks  of  wage  laborers,  and  an  inclination  more 
recently  made  manifest  to  seek  "  American "  patronage  and  trade  in 
some  branches  of  business.  The  tendency  to  rise  from  the  ranks  of 
wage-earners  has  been  made  stronger  by  the  fact  that  as  such  they 
have  had  little  opportunity  to  advance  to  the  higher  occupations  and 
to  follow  the  trades  some  of  them  had  acquired  in  their  native  land. 

The  investigation  sho\vs,  in  addition  to  the  above  facts: 

(1)  That  with  few  exceptions  the  Japanese  business  establishments 
are  small,  employ  comparatively  little  capital,  are  conducted  with 
the  assistance  of  few  employees,  and  have  a  comparatively  small 
volume  of  annual  transactions. 

(2)  That  in  the  larger  cities  where  there  are  great  numbers  of 
Japanese  many  branches  of  business  and  many  professions  are  repre 
sented;  and  because  of  clannishness,  convenience  in  point  of  location 
and  language,  and  the  character  of  the  goods  carried  in  stock,  and 
because  of  the  feeling  of  opposition  toward  the  Asiatics,  with  the  result 
that  they  are  not  welcome  at  white  establishments  giving  personal 
service,  the  majority  of  the  wants  of  the  Japanese  are  met  by  their 
countrymen  engaged  in  business  and  the  professions. 

(3)  That  while  many  of  the  Japanese  establishments  have  been 
called  into  existence  primarily  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  members  of 
that  race,   others  have  been  started,  mainly  in  recent  years,  for 
"American"  trade,  and  are  patronized  almost  exclusively  by  white 
persons. 

(4)  That  frequently  in  competing  with  white  establishments  the 
Japanese  have  underbid  through  a  lower  scale  of  prices. 

(5)  That  because  of  organized  opposition  in  some  instances,  and  of 
the  small  number  of  Japanese  establishments  as  compared  to  those 
conducted  by  other  races,   the  trades  which  have  been  seriously 
affected  by  Japanese  competition  have  been  few. 

(6)  That  in  some  instances  the  changes  in  the  character  of  the 
population  resulting  from  the  settlement  of  Japanese  who   trade 
principally  at  shops  conducted  by  their  countrymen  have  seriously 
affected  the  business  of  shopkeepers  and  others  located  in  or  near 
Japanese  colonies. 

(7)  That    few   white   persons    are    employed  in  Japanese  estab 
lishments. 

(8)  That  usually,  where  there  is  competition  between  white  and 
Japanese  business  men,  the  former  maintain  a  shorter  work  day  and  a 
higher  scale  of  wages  than  the  latter. 

While  the  cost  of  food  and  drink  consumed  by  Japanese  farm 
laborers  varies  from  about  23  to  30  cents  per  day,  and  by  railroad 
laborers  is  about  $8.50  per  month,  the  expenditures  of  a  large  per- 


61 

centage  of  those  living  in  cities  are  very  much  larger.  They  spend 
more  for  clothing  than  the  members  of  most  races  similarly  situated. 
On  the  whole  their  standard  of  living  is  higher  than  that  of  the  Mexi 
can  and  the  Chinese,  and  compares  favorably  with  the  standards  of 
the  south  and  east  Europeans  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits  and  earn 
ing  like  incomes.  Yet  the  expenses  of  laborers  without  families  have 
been  much  less  than  those  of  white  men  with  families.  The  migratory 
laborers,  usually  with  families  or  parents  to  support  at  home  and 
with  limited  opportunities  for  investment  here,  send  most  of  their 
savings  abroad.  The  farmers,  the  business  men  and  shopkeepers,  and 
a  small  percentage  of  the  nonmigratory  laborers  stand  in  striking 
contrast  to  these,  for  they  usually  invest  most  of  their  savings  in  the 
business  carried  on  or  in  agriculture,  or  else  put  by  their  savings  until 
they  can  find  profitable  investment  for  them. 

The  Japanese  are  well  organized  into  prefectural  societies  or  trade 
guilds,  and  otherwise,  and  seldom  become  public  charges.  Though 
in  several  instances  it  has  been  necessary  to  deal  with  Japanese 
prostitution,  they  have  not  given  much  trouble  on  account  of  mis 
demeanors  or  crimes — much  less  than  the  Mexicans  and  the  Latin 
races. 

In  certain  respects  the  Japanese  have  shown  a  great  capacity  for 
assimilation,  and  very  much  more  than  the  Chinese  and  the  Mexicans 
of  the  peon  class.  In  fact,  they  are  extremely  anxious  to  learn 
western  ways  and  methods  and  conform  at  least  to  the  externals  of 
the  civilization  into  which  they  have  come.  They  have  organized 
more  schools  for  the  acquirement  of  a  knowledge  of  English  than  any 
other  race,  and  in  spite  of  their  general  colony  life  and  slight  associa 
tion  with  other  races  they  have  made  more  rapid  progress  in  learning 
our  language  than  the  majority  of  the  south  and  east  Europeans,  and 
much  more  than  the  Mexicans  and  Chinese,  who  have  shown  little 
interest  in  such  matters.  In  dress  and  all  superficial  matters  they 
conform  to  American  ways,  and  though  the  majority  adhere  to  the 
Buddhist  faith,  a  large  number,  especially  of  the  younger  student 
class,  are  professed  Christians  and  the  missions  are  usually  well  sup 
ported.  Yet  there  are  race  characteristics  which  may  be  firmly 
rooted — how  firmly  only  time  and  longer  association  with  other  races 
will  tell. 

But  whatever  their  capacities  for  assimilation,  the  general  condi 
tions  have  been  unfavorable  to  the  Japanese  laborer  because  of  race 
feeling  growing  out  of  difference  in  color,  characteristics,  and  ideals, 
because  of  the  economic  conflict  which  has  taken  place  especially  in 
California,  and  (this  being  not  least  important)  because  they  came 
from  the  same  quarter  of  the  world  as  the  Chinese  and  fell  heir  to 
their  industrial  position  and  general  mode  of  life.  The  Japanese, 
along  with  the  Chinese,  are  regarded  as  differing  greatly  from  the 
white  races  they  have  lived  among,  but  as  no  integral  part  of,  and  a 
strong  public  sentiment  has  segregated  them,  if  not  in  their  work, 
in  the  other  details  of  their  living.  This  practically  forbids,  when  not 
expressed  in  law,  marriage  between  them  and  persons  of  the  white 
races,  and  where  a  considerable  number  of  Japanese  have  appeared 
in  a  community  race  conflicts  have  frequently  resulted.  TV  ith  the 
exception  of  those  who  belong  to  the  business  classes,  the  Chinese 
native-born  have  found  limitations  placed  upon  them  so  that, 
regardless  of  any  capacity  they  may  have  for  Americanization,  they 


62 

do  not  differ  materially  from  and  are  treated  as  if  foreign-born. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that,  with  large  numbers  of  laborers,  similar  limi 
tations — with  similar  results — would  be  placed  upon  the  native- 
born  Japanese,  none  of  whom  has  yet  arrived  at  mature  age. 

EAST    INDIANS. 

East  Indians  of  the  laboring  class  were  the  last  race  to  find  a  place 
in  the  population  of  the  Pacific  Coast  States.  Though  the  census 
of  1900  reports  India  as  the  country  of  birth  of  2,050  persons  resid 
ing  in  the  continental  United  States,  these  were  almost  all  of  the 
student  and  business  classes  of  East  Indians  and  persons  of  other 
races  who  had  been  born  in  India,  a  large  percentage  of  whom  were 
located  in  the  eastern  States.  The  immigration  of  East  Indian 
laborers  may  be  said  to  date  from  1905.  In  1906  the  number  of 
11  immigrant"  and  " nonimmigrant "  East  Indians  arriving  in  the 
United  States  was  271;  in  1907,  1,072;  in  1908,  1,710.  Beginning 
with  1908  the  " immigrant"  and  " nonimmigrant"  classes  have  been 
reported  separately  by  the  Immigration  Bureau.  In  1909  the  num 
ber  of  "immigrants"  was  337;  in  1910  (July  1,  1909-June  30,  1910), 
1,782.  The  number  of  East  Indian  laborers  in  the  United  States 
July  1,  1910,  may  be  estimated  at  5,000  or  perhaps  a  little  more. 
About  85  per  cent  of  these  are  Hindus  wearing  the  turban;  the  others 
are  Mohammedans  or  Afghans. 

The  first  important  immigration  of  East  Indian  laborers  to  the 
United  States  was  from  British  Columbia,  where  as  the  result  of  the 
activity  of  steamship  agents  and  the  spread  of  Canadian  " literature" 
in  India  and  the  efforts  made  to  supply  laborers  under  contract  for 
work  with  British  Columbia  corporations,  5,179  came  during  the  four 
years  ending  with  1908,  when  the  further  immigration  of  members 
of  that  race  was  effectively  stopped  by  the  denial  of  admission  to 
those  who  did  not  come  directly  from  their  native  land,  and  upon 
through  tickets,  and  by  another  measure  increasing  the  amount  of 
money  to  have  in  possession  from  $25  to  $200.  The  intent  of  the 
first  provision  becomes  evident  in  view  of  the  fact  that  there  is  no 
direct  steamship  connection  between  India  and  Canada. 

The  immigration  of  East  Indians  from  British  Columbia  is 
explained  by  several  facts.  They  found  the  northern  climate  too 
severe,  the  white  population  was  bitterly  opposed  to  them,  and  the 
wages  they  earned  as  construction  laborers  and  section  hands  on  the 
railroads,  as  employees  in  the  lumber  mills,  and  as  cannery  hands 
on  the  Frazer  River  were  much  lower  than  the  wages  paid  in  the 
States  of  Washington  and  Oregon.  The  first  East  Indians  coming 
from  Canada  found  employment  in  lumber  mills  near  the  border  at 
$1.60  per  day,  and  when  this  fact  was  communicated  to  their  friends 
and  acquaintances  in  British  Columbia  who  were  earning  from  $0.80 
to  $1.25  per  day,  the  influx  began.  The  movement  practically  ended 
in  1908,  however,  because  of  the  effective  exclusion  of  the  race  from 
Dominion  territory.  Since  then  most  of  the  immigration  to  this 
country  has  been  direct  from  Asiatic  ports,  the  great  majority  of 
them  entering  this  country  at  San  Francisco.  During  the  first  nine 
months  of  the  calendar  year  1910,  1,401  were  admitted  at  the  immi 
gration  station  there  located,  while  623  were  denied  admission., 


63 

The  number  of  East  Indians  entering  the  United  States  has  been 
affected  somewhat  by  the  attitude  of  the  immigration  authorities 
toward  them.  In  1908  many  were  turned  back  on  the -ground  that 
they  were  likely  to  become  public  chanres,  and  the  same  has  been 
true  recently  in  the  administration  of  the  law  at  the  port  of  San 
•Francisco,  where  during  the  four  months,  June  to  September,  1910, 
482  were  admitted  and  421  rejected  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
likely  to  become  public  charges,  as  against  919  admitted  and  68 
rejected  for  the  same  cause  during  the  preceding  five  months  of  the 
year.  The  more  severe  interpretation  of  the  law  has  met  with  almost 
unqualified  approval,  for  the  East  Indian  laborers  are  regarded  as 
the  least  desirable,  not  to  say  the  most  undesirable,  immigrants  who 
have  come  to  the  Pacific  coast.  While  4,90.1  have  been  admitted  to 
this  country  during  the  four  years  ending  June  30,  1910,  1,597  have 
been  denied  admission  at  the  ports.  In  this  connection  it  should 
be  added  that  a  large  percentage  of  those  who  have  applied  had 
already  been  passed  upon  when  admitted  to  Canada,  while  recently 
many  are  reported  to  have  been  turned  back  upon  examination  when 
about  to  leave  Asiatic  ports.  Of  the  1,597  rejected  during  the  four 
years  mentioned,  750  were  rejected  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
likely  to  become  public  charges,  447  because  afflicted  with  trachoma, 
112  because  of  loathsome*  or  contagious  disease,  177  on  surgeon's 
certificate  of  mental  or  physical  defect  which  might  affect  their 
ability  to  earn  a  living,  73  on  the  ground  that  they  were  contract 
laborers,  2  because  idiotic,  2  because  criminal,  and  34  because  they 
were  polygamists.  During  the  four  years  15  were  deported  for 
various  reasons.6  In  spite  of  the  large  number  rejected,  the  move 
ment  of  East  Indians  to  the  Pacific  coast  has  not  been  so  discouraged 
but  that  the  number  has  tended  to  increase  under  the  present  immi 
gration  law  and  its  interpretation.  rl  he  comparatively  small  num 
bers  who  have  thus  far  come  only  mark  the  beginning  of  a  much 
larger  immigration  if  the  members  of  this  race  are  successful  in 
establishing  themselves  as  laborers  in  this  country. 

Of  473  East  Indians  from  whom  personal  schedules  were  obtained, 
85  per  cent  had  been  farmers  or  farm  laborers  in  India.a  Of  the 
others  a  few  had  been  soldiers,  an  equal  number  business  men,  and  a 
somewhat  larger  number  wage-laborers  in  other  than  agricultural 
work.  Without  exception  they  arrived  in  this  country  with  little 
money  and  most  of  them  appear  to  have  come  with  the  expectation 
of  accumulating  a  sum  of  $2,000  and  then  returning  to  their  native 
land.  A  by  no  means  small  percentage,  however,  complain  of  British 
oppression  in  their  native  land.  They  have  come  without  their 
families,  but  now  that  a  few  have  decided  to  remain  permanently  in 
this  country  they  state  that  the  immigration  of  families  will  soon 
follow. 

In  this  country  the  East  Indians,  with  rare  exceptions,  have 
engaged  in  the  roughest,  most  unskilled  labor  outside  of  factory 
walls.  Whether  with  a  longer  residence  they  would  rise  to  higher 
positions  as  they  did  in  British  Columbia  lumber  mills  remains  to 
be  seen.  As  yet  their  employment,  with  few  exceptions,  has  been 
limited  to  uyard  work"  in  lumber  mills,  as  section  hands  in  several 

<»The  occupations  as  reported  by  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration  are 
somewhat  misleading,  for  in  a  large  percentage  of  the  cases  the  occupation  in  British 
Columbia,  not  India,  is  given. 

*>  See  reports  of  the  Commissioner-General  of  Immigration,  1907,  1908,  1909,  1910. 


64 

places  but  chiefly  in  Nevada,  as  railroad  construction  laborers,  as 
hand  laborers  in  the  sugar-beet  fields  in  California,  as  hand  laborers 
in  grape  and  fruit  picking,  weeding,  and  hoeing,  and  as  unskilled 
laborers  in  a  pottery  and  in  a  quarry.  The  only  instance  known  in 
which  they  have  been  employed  at  work  in  a  building  was  in  a  rope 
factory  in  Portland.  A  few  Mohammedans  have  vended  peanuts, 
while  several  small  groups  have  manufactured  tamales  at  their 
homes  and  sold  them  upon  the  streets  of  Oakland  and  San  Francisco. 

Since  1906  East  Indians  have  been  employed  as  yard  laborers  in 
the  lumber  mills  of  the  Northwest,  chiefly  about  Bellingham,  Tacoma, 
Grays  Harbor,  and  Astoria.  They  have  been  paid  higher  wages  than 
the  Japanese,  but  as  a  rule  somewhat  lower  wages  than  "  white  men," 
the  East  Indians  not  being  recognized  as  of  the  white  race.  Their 
wages  have  been  fixed  by  the  lumber  companies  at  comparatively 
high  rates,  because  of  the  strong  hostility  exhibited  toward  them  by 
laborers  of  other  races,  who  have  feared  that  they  would  undermine 
their  wages.  The  average  wage  per  day  of  53  East  Indians  was 
$1.67.  The  average  yearly  earnings  of  38  were  $451  for  an  average 
of  10.2  months  in  employment,  as  against  $516  for  48  Japanese  for  an 
average  of  11.2  months  in  employment.  Because  of  lower  wages  or 
of  more  irregular  work,  or  both,  their  annual  earnings  were  found  to 
be  lower  than  those  of  any  other  race  for  the  members  of  which  such 
data  were  obtained.  In  a  few  instances  they  have  been  regarded 
as  worth  the  wage  paid  them,  but  in  most  instances  the  employers 
have  regarded  them  as  dear  labor  at  the  price,  because  physically 
weak  as  compared  to  " white  men,"  slow  to  understand  instructions, 
and  requiring  close  supervision.  Because  of  this  fact  and  the  wide 
spread  opposition  to  them  they  are  not  so  extensively  employed  in 
lumber  mills  as  formerly.  In  fact  most  of  the  members  of  the  race 
have  migrated  from  Washington  and  Oregon  to  California  in  search 
of  a  warmer  climate  and  of  work  in  the  fields  and  orchards,  which 
they  find  more  agreeable.  At  present  perhaps  four-fifths  of  the 
5,000  or  more  are  found  in  the  one  State,  and  none  are  found  else 
where  than  in  the  three  Pacific  Coast  States  and  Nevada. 

The  East  Indian  laborers  coming  from  the  north  made  then1  appear 
ance  in  California  late  in  the  year  1907  to  work  in  railway  construc 
tion.  They  are  known  to  have  been  employed  as  laborers  in  construc 
tion  gangs  on  five  railways  being  built  in  the  State.  In  all  of  these 
instances  they  were  paid  somewhat  less  than  the  members  of  the 
white  races,  but  were  generally  found  to  be  too  weak,  because  of  being 
underfed,  and  too  slow  to  be  worth  the  price  when  other  laborers  could 
be  secured  at  somewhat  higher  wages.  In  only  one  case  were  they 
retained  in  employment  for  more  than  a  short  time  and  that  has  been 
upon  a  railway  still  in  process  of  construction.  They  have  not  been 
extensively  employed  as  section  hands.  In  one  instance  they  were 
employed  to  some  extent  for  a  few  months  and  then  discharged.  In 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1909  only  73  were  reported  in  a  total  of 
34,919  section  hands  employed  on  railways  in  the  Western  division. 
As  section  hands  they  have  sometimes  been  paid  higher  wages  than 
other  Asiatics,  but  with  few  exceptions  have  been  regarded  as  the 
least  desirable  of  all  races  employed.  Unless  of  the  soldier  class,  they 
have  been  found  to  be  physically  weak,  unintelligent,  and  slow  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  work  to  be  done. 


65 

Under  these  circumstances  most  of  the  East  Indians  have  drifted 
into  agricultural  work  in  California,  where  there  has  been  the  greatest 
dearth  of  cheap  labor  because  of  the  extension  of  specialized  farming 
and  fruit  growing  and  the  diminishing  number  of  Chinese  and  Japanese 
available  as  wage  laborers  for  seasonal  work.  In  1908  they  made 
their  appearance  in  orchards,  vineyards,  and  sugar-beet  fields,  and  on 
the  large  farms  devoted  to  the  production  of  various  kinds  of  vege 
tables  in  northern  and  central  California.  In  1909  three  small  groups 
made  their  appearance  in  southern  California.  'Their*  work  has  been 
of  the  most  unskilled  type,  and  limited  to  hoeing  and  weeding  in  field 
and  orchard,  and  to  harvesting  of  grapes,  fruit,  and  vegetables.  In 
only  one  or  two  instances  were  they  found  to  have  been  employed  with 
single  horse  plows.  In  the  Newcastle  fruit  district  and  along  the 
Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  rivers,  where  a  large  part  of  the  land  is 
leased  by  Asiatics,  they  have  found  employment  without  much  diffi 
culty  because  of  a  widespread  desire  to  break  the  monopoly  control 
of  the  labor  supply  by  the  Japanese,  or  because  of  the  much  higher 
wages  than  formerly  commanded  by  other  Asiatics.  In  most  of  the 
communities,  because  of  then:  dirty  appearance  and  strange  looks 
when  wearing  turbans,  they  have  found  it  difficult  to  secure  employ 
ment  at  relatively  low  wages.  They  usually  go  from  place  to  place  in 
small  groups  in  search  of  work  under  the  leadership  of  one  of  their 
number  who  acts  as  interpreter  and  business  agent.  In  1908  their 
wages  varied  from  25  to  50  cents  per  day  less  than  was  paid  to  Japa 
nese.  In  some  instances  when  paid  on  a  piece  basis  they  worked  at  a 
lower  rate  than  other  races.  This  difference  has  tended  to  disappear, 
however,  for  the  East  Indians,  when  they  have  found  employment  in  a 
community,  have  demanded  as  high  wages  as  were  paid  to  other  Asiatics. 
In  1909  the  difference  had  been  reduced  to  25  cents  per  day,  and  in 
some  cases  to  even  less.  Though  in  some  instances  they  have  com 
mended  themselves  to  ranchers,  they  have  generally  been  regarded  as 
distinctly  inferior  to  laborers  of  other  races  and  as  not  cheap  labor  at 
the  wages  which  they  have  been  paid.  In  few  cases  have  they  dis 
placed  any  other  race;  usually  they  have  done  the  work  not  desired  by 
other  races  or  have  been  employed  when  other  laborers  were  not  avail 
able  at  the  customary  or  even  a  higher  wage. 

While  in  a  few  instances  they  have  been  retained  on  large  ranches 
through  the  winter  season  as  wood  choppers,  they  have  usually  found 
employment  only  during  the  busiest  seasons  and  during  the  winter 
have  secured  employment  as  construction  laborers,  have  withdrawn 
to  the  cities  to  live  in  idleness,  or  have  moved  from  place  to  place  only 
to  find  little  employment.  Their  industrial  position  is  the  most 
insecure  of  any  race;  in  general  they  are  looked  upon  as  a  possible 
source  when  laborers  of  other  races  are  not  available  on  satisfactory 
terms.  Though  in  extreme  need  they  have  frequently  offered  to  work: 
for  very  low  wages  and  in  some  instances  nave  even  demanded 
employment,  their  competitive  ability,  because  of  low  efficiency  and 
a  general  disinclination  to  hire  them,  has  been  comparatively  small. 
With  more  experience  and  time,  however,  their  position  would  doubt 
less  become  more  secure  and  their  competitive  ability  greater. 

Of  371  East  Indian  agricultural  laborers,  45  earned  $1  but  less  than 
$1.25  per  day;  104,  $1.25  but  less  than  $1.50;  149,  $1.50  but  less  than 
$1.75;  43,  $1.75  but  less  than  $2;  28,  $2  but  less  than  $2.50;  2,  $2.50 
but  less  than  $3.  Those  receiving  more  than  $1.75  per  day  were  either 

68534—11 5 


66 

pieceworkers  or  "  bosses/'  who  are  paid  somewhat  higher  wages  than 
their  fellow-workers  and  do  not  receive  commissions,  as  Japanese 
"bosses"  frequently  do.  These  are  summer  wages  and  are  much 
higher  than  are  paid  at  other  times  of  the  year  and  for  wood  chopping. 
Nor  are  the  wages  paid  a  good  index  to  earnings  in  the  course  of  the 
year,  for  much  of  tne  time  is  spent  in  idleness  because  of  the  irregu 
larity  of  their  employment. 

The  standard  of  living  of  the  East  Indians  is  lower  than  that  of  any 
of  the  races  with  which  they  compete,  but,  with  better  earnings, 
their  standard  as  measured  by  expense  rises.  The  East  Indians  are 
without  families  and  the  men  live  in  groups  of  from  2  to  50,  depend 
ing  upon  the  size  of  the  "gang"  employed  in  a  given  place  and  also 
to  some  extent  upon  the  number  of  castes  represented  among  them. 
The  agricultural  laborers  are  provided  with  free  lodging  in  "shacks/7 
barns,  or  other  outbuildings,  or,  more  frequently,  live  in  the  open. 
They  usually  have  no  furniture  and  sleep  in  blankets  upon  the  floor 
or  ground.  They  generally  cook  upon  a  grate  placed  over  a  hole  in 
the  ground  and  frequently  eat  without  plate,  knife,  or  fork.  Fre 
quently  the  members  of  several  castes  are  found  working  in  the 
same  "gang"  and  lodging  together,  but  the  members  of  each  caste 
form  a  "mess"  and  all  food  eaten  must  be  prepared  by  a  member 
of  the  caste.  As  a  rule  they  will  not  purchase  meat  which  has  been 
prepared  by  other  hands,  and  are  thus  usually  limited  to  poultry 
and  lambs  butchered  by  themselves  for  their  meat.  In  fact,  they 
eat  little  meat.  They  subsist  chiefly  upon  unleavened  bread  cooked 
as  pancakes,  upon  vegetables,  such  fruit  as  they  may  happen  to  be 
harvesting,  and  milk  when  they  can  get  it.  Tea  and  coffee  are  some 
times  used.  Many  kinds  of  food  are  abstained  from,  the  articles 
upon  the  taboo  list  varying  as  between  the  "hat "  (Mohammedan)  and 
the  "turbaned"  Hindus,  and  from  one  caste  to  another.  Living  in 
this  manner,  their  food  rarely  costs  as  much  as  $7.50  per  month 
per  man — this,  however,  not  including  beer  and  whisky,  which  are 
freely  consumed  in.  many  of  the  groups.  Of  clothing,  most  of  these 
migratory  laborers  do  not  have  enough  for  a  change,  and  "dressing 
up"  usually  consists  of  a  change  of  headdress  and  putting  on  the 
coat,  which  most  possess.  The  cost  of  clothing  as  estimated  by 
various  groups  does  not  average  more  than  $30  per  man  per  year. 

Most  of  the  lumber-mill  laborers  and  the  Mohammedan  peddlers 
in  the  cities  live  better  than  the  agricultural  laborers.  They  usually 
live  in  "shacks"  or  basements  which  alone  are  rented  to  them,  the 
group  occupying  one  or  two  rooms.  To  the  articles  of  food  con 
sumed  by  the  migratory  laborers  they  add  others,  thus  increasing 
the  cost  of  subsistence.  The  average  cost  of  subsistence  for  79 
mill  hands  in  Oregon  and  Washington,  living  in  several  groups,  was 
$1'2  per  month.  The  outlay  of  the  Mohammedan  tamale  makers  and 
peddlers  was  even  larger. 

The  observance  of  caste  in  the  selection,  preparation,  and  eating 
of  food  has  been  noted.  The  strength  of  this  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  when  placed  in  jail  for  petit  larceny  or  misdemeanors  they 
have  consistently  refused  to  eat  food  not  prepared  by  themselves  or 
brought  by  their  friends.  At  Auburn,  Cal.,  one  East  Indian  fasted  for 
10  days,  after  which  he  was  permitted  to  have  a  stove  and  to  pre 
pare  his  own  meals.  At  Fresno  some  prisoners  subsisted  upon 
watermelons  and  food  brought  to  them  by  their  countrymen  until 


67 

the  inconvenience  involved  in  retaining  them  in  jail  resulted  in 
their  being  set  free  without  trial.  Caste  and  taboo  are  not  so  closely 
observed  here  as  in  their  native  land,  but,  as  is  evident,  both  are 
still  strong  factors  in  East  Indian  life. 

When  employed  at  the  wages  already  indicated  the  earnings  of 
the  East  Indian  men  are  much  larger  than  the  cost  of  their  living. 
Almost  all  of  the  savings  are  immediately  sent  to  India  to  support 
their  families  or  to  add  to  the  fund  they  are  engaged  in  accumulat 
ing.  Few  have  as  much  as  $50  worth  of  property  in  this  country. 
In  fact,  they  have  frequently  sent  all  their  savings  abroad  and  left 
themselves  with  nothing  to  live  on  in  the  event  of  unemployment. 
In  one  case  their  pitiable  condition  was  relieved  by  assistance  given 
by  the  British  consul-general.  Their  poverty,  precarious  industrial 
position,  and  habit  with  reference  to  sending  savings  abroad,  are 
likely  at  any  time  to  cause  great  suffering  among  them  or  to  cause 
them,  though  able-bodied,  to  become  public  charges.  That  they 
have  not  frequently  become  public  charges  heretofore  is  explained 
largely  by  the  fact  that  they  have  been  far  removed  from  the  com 
munity  life.  They  find  work  and  move  in  the  community,  but  as 
yet  have  been  no  part  of  it. 

The  percentage  of  illiteracy  among  the  East  Indians  is  larger  than 
among  any  other  immigrant  race,  not  excepting  the  Mexican  peons. 
Between  one-half  and  three-fifths  of  them  are  unable  to  read  and 
write.  A  larger  percentage  of  them  than  of  several  races  speak 
English,  if  comparison  is  limited  to  those  who  have  immigrated 
within  a  period  of  five  years.  This  fact,  however,  does  not  indicate 
capacity  for  assimilation,  for  a  large  percentage  had  resided  in  British 
Columbia  before  coming  to  the  United  States,  while  others  had 
studied  English  in  India  or  had  come  in  contact  with  English-speak 
ing  people  in  the  army  or  elsewhere  before  leaving  their  native  land. 
A  few  have  taken  out  first  papers  as  the  first  step  toward  acquiring 
American  citizenship.  Others  have  applied  for  papers  but  have 
been  denied  them  upon  the  ground  that  they  w^ere  racially  ineli 
gible  for  naturalization.  The  Bureau  of  Naturalization  has  instructed 
federal  attorneys  to  "oppose  the  granting  of  naturalization  to 
Hindus  or  East  Indians,"  but  in  so  far  as  known  no  case  directly 
involving  the  right  of  East  Indians  to  become  naturalized  citizens 
of  this  country  has  been  decided  by  the  courts.  Recently  the 
United  States  circuit  court  of  appeals  in  the  southern  district  of 
New  York  (180  Fed.  Rep.,  695)  rendered  a  decision  holding  that  a 
Parsee — a  native  of  India — was  eligible  for  citizenship,  but  the  court 
made  a  clear  distinction  between  the  Parsees  and  the  Hindus. 

The  assimilative  qualities  of  the  East  Indians  appear  to  be  the 
lowest  of  any  race  in  the  West.  The  strong  influence  of  custom, 
caste,  and  taboo,  as  well  as  their  religion,  dark  skins,  filthy  appearance, 
and  dress  stand  in  the  way  of  association  with  other  races.  At  the 
same  time  that  their  assimilative  qualities  are  low,  it  is  evident  from 
the  attitude  of  all  other  races  toward  them  that  they  will  be  given  no 
opportunity  to  assimilate.  It  appears  certain  that  until  many 
changes  have  been  wrought  the  East  Indians  of  the  laboring  class  will 
find  no  place  in  American  life  save  in  the  exploitation  of  our  resources. 
Except  for  those  of  an  idealistic  turn  of  mind,  a  few  who  look  upon 
our  country  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  the  East  Indian  they  believe  to 
be  oppressed  in  his  native  land,  and  a  very  few  of  the  many  whose 


68 

chief  interests  and  point  of  view  are  purely  industrial,  the  other  races 
of  the  West  stand  opposed  to  the  immigration  of  East  Indians  as  to 
that  of  no  other  race. 


MEXICANS. 


The  sections  of  the  United  States  in  which  the  great  majority  of  the 
Mexican  immigrants  are  found  were  formerly  a  part  of  the  Republic 
of  Mexico.  How  many  persons  of  Mexican  descent  find  a  place  in 
the  population  of  this  country  can  not  be  ascertained.  The  number 
of  foreign-born  Mexicans  in  1900,  as  reported  by  the  census,  was 
103,410.  For  various  reasons  the  immigration  has  been  far  more 
rapid  since  1900  than  at  any  previous  time,  with  the  result  that  the 
number  of  foreign-born  of  that  race  is  much  larger  than  when  the 
census  of  1900  was  taken.  According  to  the  reports  of  the  Com 
missioner-General  of  Immigration,  the  number  coming  to  the  United 
States  during  the  nine  years  between  July  1,  1900,  and  June  30,  1909, 
was  23,991,  but  complete  records  of  those  who  cross  the  border  have 
not  been  kept.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  number  immigrating 
does  not  exceed  60,000  per  year,  and  the  majority  of  those  who  come 
for  the  first  time  return  to  Mexico  after  a  few  months  or  a  year. 

Though  Mexicans  are  now  employed  as  far  east  as  Louisiana,  and  in 
railroad  work  as  far  north  as  Illinois,  Kansas,  and  Wyoming,  and 
though  there  is  a  small  settlement  of  families  of  that  race  in  San 
Francisco,  most  of  them  are  found  in  Texas,  Arizona,  and  New 
Mexico,  in  Colorado  from  Pueblo  south,  in  the  southern  part  of 
Nevada,  and  in  California  from  Fresno  south  to  the  Mexican  boundary. 
In  the  territory  thus  roughly  defined,  many  colonies  of  Mexican 
families  permanently  settled  in  this  country  are  found,  as  at  El  Paso, 
San  Antonio,  Tucson,  and  Los  Angeles,  in  all  of  which  cities  the 
Mexicans  are  a  conspicuous  element  in  the  population.  Much 
smaller  numbers  are  settled  on  small  farms,  for  the  greater  part  in 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona.  But  a  far  larger  number  are 
transient  laborers,  many  of  them  alternating  between  their  native 
land  and  the  States  of  the  Southwest,  and  living  wherever  their 
employment  takes  them. 

With  few  exceptions,  the  Mexicans  of  the  peon  class  are  engaged  in 
unskilled  work  for  wages.  Their  chief  employments  are  as  laborers 
in  general  construction  work,  as  section  hands  and  members  of 
11  extra  gangs"  in  railroad  maintenance  of  way,  as  common  laborers 
and  as  helpers  in  railway  shops,  as  laborers  and  to  a  less  extent  as 
underground  workmen  in  coal  and  ore  mining,  as  general  laborers 
about  smelters  and  ore  reduction  plants,  and  as  seasonal  farm  hands 
in  Texas,  Colorado,  and  California.  Smaller  numbers  are 'employed 
in  brickyards,  as  hod  carriers,  and  as  helpers  in  the  building  trades, 
as  cigar  makers  (as  in  San  Francisco  and  El  Paso),  as  cannery  hands 
in  southern  California,  and  in  biscuit  and  chili  factories,  laundries,  and 
other  establishments  calling  for  a  similar  grade  of  ability.  With  few 
exceptions,  their  shopkeeping  is  of  the  pettiest  kind,  and  conducted 
in  the  Mexican  quarter.  Nor  have  they  in  many  cases  risen  from  the 
rank  of  seasonal  laborer  to  tenant  or  landowning  farmer  in  the 
specialized  agricultural  industries  in  which  they  find  a  place.  The 
Mexican  being  without  ambition  and  thrift  and  being  content  with  the 
wage  relation  and  a  dependent  position,  his  progress,  unlike  that  of 


69 

the  Japanese,  has  been  slow,  and  is  occupational  and  practically  limited 
to  that  of  a  wage-earner. 

The  investigation  of  Mexicans  conducted  through  the  western  office 
maintained  by  the  Commission  was  limited  to  the  11  States  and 
Territories  comprising  the  Western  division,  which  in  1900  had  only 
29,579  of  the  103,421  Mexicans  reported  by  the  census.  The  results 
of  the  investigation  of  railroad  work,  coal  and  metal  mining,  smelt 
ing,  and  the  sugar-beet  industry  and  related  agricultural  work,  briefly 
stated,  will  show  the  more  important  economic  phases  of  Mexican 
immigration. 

From  the  data  collected  by  the  Commission  it  would  appear  that 
in  the  summer  of  1909  Mexicans  constituted  about  one-sixth  of  the 
section  hands  and  members  of  " extra  gangs"  employed  in  the  ll 
States  and  Territories  embraced  within  the  Western  division.  The 
Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  employed  2,598  Mexicans,  41  white 
men,  and  33  Indians  as  section  hands  and  construction  laborers  on 
its  lines  west  of  Albuquerque.  The  Southern  Pacific  Company 
employed  Mexicans  almost  exclusively  on  its  southern  lines,  the  com 
mon  laborers  of  the  race  numbering  2,714  in  a  total  of  12,592  employed 
on  the  various  lines  comprising  its  system.  Tlus  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  employed  206  Mexicans  of  a  total  of  1,791,  the  San  Pedro, 
Los  Angeles  and  Salt  Lake,  397  of  a  total  of  1,706.  The  majority  of 
the  less  important  railroads  of  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  southern 
Colorado  employed  Mexicans  largely  if  not  almost  exclusively. 
Farther  east  the  members  of  this  race  are  employed  on  the  Santa 
Fe,  on  the  Rock  Island,  and  several  other  railroads.  Though  a  few 
of  these  section  hands  are  paid  as  much  as  $1.75,  the  majority  at 
the  time  of  the  investigation  commanded  only  $1  per  day,  while  as 
track  walkers  they  received  $1.25.  Of  2,455  Mexican  maintenance- 
of-way  laborers  from  whom  data  were  obtained,  86.1  per  cent  earned 
less  than  $1.25  (i.  e.,  $1,  $1.10,  or  $1.15),  8.6  per  cent  $1.25  but  less 
than  $1.50,  and  5.3  per  cent  $1.50  or  over  per  day.  The  Mexican's 
wage  was  found  to  be  the  lowest  paid  to  maintenance-of-way 
laborers  in  the  West  and  is  lower  than  was  paid  to  men  of  other 
races  where  such  had  been  employed  previous  to  securing  Mexi 
cans.  Their  wages  on  one  railroad  were  $1  and  in  the  desert  $1.25 
per  day,  while  the  Japanese  employed  in  the  more  agreeable  places 
were  paid  $1.45.  In  several  instances  they  have  replaced  at  $1  per 
day  Indians  and  Japanese  who  had  been  paid  $1.25.  It  should  be 
added,  however,  that,  largely  because  of  the  more  extensive  employ 
ment  of  Mexicans  as  section  hands  in  States  to  the  east,  the  wages 
of  most  of  them  employed  in  the  Southwest  have  been  increased  to 
$1.25  since  the  investigation  of  railway  labor  was  made.  But  even 
at  this  wage  the  Mexican  is  still  the  lowest  paid  railroad  laborer  in  the 
West  and  his  wage  is  lower  than  that  paid  to  other  races  and  lower 
than  that  paid  generally  to  Japanese  before  restrictions  were  placed 
upon  the  immigration  of  that  race  to  this  country. 

During  recent  years  many  Mexicans  living  far  in  the  interior  of 
Mexico  have  been  brought  to  the  northern  part  of  the  Republic  to 
work  on  the  railways  and  in  the  mines  and  smelters.  Once  near  the 
boundary,  they  have  found  the  wages  in  this  country  to  be  enough 
higher  than  those  paid  in  Mexico  to  induce  them  to  enter  this  country 
at  El  Paso,  where  they  are  sent  chiefly  to  the  various  railway  lines  by 
the  several  employment  agencies,  some  of  which  have  been  organized 


70 

to  supply  particular  railroads  with  laborers  of  that  race.  At  El  Paso 
the  Mexicans  have  been  permitted  to  enter  this  country  freely  when 
without  money  if  employment  was  to  be  obtained  through  these 
agencies.  ^In  some  instances  the  agents  act  as  supply  companies,  the 
railroad  companies  protecting  their  bills,  and  charge  no  commission, 
but  rely  on  the  profits  from  selling  goods  at  comparatively  high  prices, 
while  in  other  cases  they  charge  an  employment  fee  of  $1,  which, 
together  with  the  charge  made  for  subsistence  of  laborers  while  in  El 
Paso  and  en  route  to  the  place  of  work,  is  deducted  by  the  railway 
companies  from  the  earnings  of  the  laborers.  The  laborers  are  trans 
ported  without  charge  by  the  companies  whose  lines  enter  El  Paso 
and  at  party  rates  where  such  is  not  the  case.  The  first-mentioned 
lines  give  free  return  transportation  to  those  who  remain  in  employ 
ment  for  several  months  and  in  one  instance  to  their  families  as  well 
after  working  for  one  year.  This  is  an  important  consideration  to 
the  Mexicans,  approximately  50  per  cent  of  whom  claim  their  trans 
portation  back  to  El  Paso. 

That  there  is  not  great  exploitation  of  the  Mexicans  engaged  in  rail 
way  work  in  the  Southwest  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  they  do  not 
leave  the  employment  of  the  companies  more  frequently  than  they 
do  to  accept  other  work  and  that  a  large  percentage  of  those  who 
come  to  this  country  are  returning  to  this  branch  of  employment  with 
their  friends  after  a  visit  to  their  native  land.  In  some  instances  it 
was  found  that  foremen  promised  the  men  employment  for  them 
selves  and  friends  upon  their  return.  " Rustlers"  are  employed  to 
meet  incoming  immigrants  at  the  bridge  over  the  Rio  Grande  at  El 
Paso,  but  no  evidence  was  secured  of  solicitation  by  agents  in  Mexico. 

The  employment  of  Mexicans  in  the  Southwest  is  largely  in  parts 
of  the  country  which  are  sparsely  settled  and  in  which  the  climatic 
and  other  conditions  are  such  that  it  has  been  difficult  to  secure  and 
to  keep  laborers  of  any  other  race,  including  the  Japanese.  It  was 
partly  because  of  this  fact,  partly  because  of  the  lower  wage  for  which 
they  were  willing  to  work,  and  partly  because  of  roadmasters'  prefer 
ences  for  them  as  laborers  that  within  ten  years  their  employment 
has  become  so  general.  That  Chinese  and  white  men  of  the  older  type 
are  no  longer  available  in  any  considerable  number  under  present 
conditions  and  at  any  price  is  evidenced  by  the  efforts  made  by  one 
company  to  secure  laborers  at  higher  wages  to  supplement  the  Mexi 
cans  upon  its  pay  rolls.  Moreover,  when  Italians,  Greeks,  and  Japa 
nese  have  been  employed,  as  they  were  in  1905,  1906,  and  1907,  the 
roadmasters  and  foremen  have  very  generally,  in  fact  almost  uni 
versally,  regarded  them  as  less  desirable  than  the  Mexicans.  The 
Mexicans  are  stronger  than  the  Japanese,  and  more  tractable  and 
more  easily  managed  than  any  of  the  races  mentioned.  Their  short 
comings  from  the  employer's  point  of  view  are  drinking  to  excess  and 
being  irregular  in  attendance  at  work,  especially  after  a  pay  day. 
Though  comparatively  few  have  risen  to  the  rank  of  foreman,  and 
though  as  a  race  they  are  unprogressive,  they  are  sufficiently  intel 
ligent  to  meet  the  requirements  of  common  labor  when  working  under 
close  supervision. 

The  Mexicans  are  also  extensively  employed  in  railway  shops  and 
about  the  roundhouses  in  the  Southwest.  In  Mexico  they  are 
employed  in  most  of  the  occupations  finding  place  in  the  shops.  In 


71 

the  Southwest,  however,  except  in  one  case  where  they  were  employed 
as  strike  breakers,  they  have  been  taken  into  the  shops  as  unskilled 
laborers  to  made  good  the  deficiency  of  Chinese  and  white  men  avail 
able  for  unskilled  work,  especially  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico. 
They  work  chiefly  as  common  laborers,  but  also  in  smaller  numbers 
as  engine  wipers,  boiler  makers,  car  repairers,  blacksmiths'  and 
machinists'  helpers,  and  in  similar  occupations  requiring  compara 
tively  little  skill  or  ability  but  affording  to  those  who  have  the  neces 
sary  ability  the  opportunity  to  rise  to  skilled  positions.  The  extent 
to  which  the  Mexicans  have  done  this  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  of 
492  reporting  wages  earned  in  railway  shops  only  3.8  per  cent  earned 
$2.50  or  over  per  day,  the  rate  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  mini 
mum  for  skilled  work,  while  65.9  per  cent  of  them  earned  less  than 
$1.50  and  58.1  per  cent  less  than  $1.25  per  day.  Most  of  them  are 
paid  $1  per  day  as  common  laborers,  a  smaller  wage  than  is  paid 
to  Japanese  similarly  employed  in  railway  shops.  However,  the 
Japanese  are  very  generally  found  to  be  superior  for  shop  work  other 
than  the  heaviest  common  labor,  for  they  are  quicker,  more  intelli 
gent,  more  ambitious,  and  more  progressive.  That  the  Mexicans 
have  shown  somewhat  more  occupational  progress  than  the  Asiatics 
is  explained  partly  by  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  other  men  for  some 
of  the  shops  in  which  they  are  employed  in  the  largest  number  of 
occupations,  partly  because  there  is  less  opposition  shown  by  white 
employees  to  the  employment  of  the  Mexicans  than  of  the  Japanese. 

In  the  other  departments  of  railway  work,  construction  excluded, 
the  Mexicans  find  little  place.  Few  are  employed  in  the  department 
of  bridges  and  buildings,  for  one  reason  because  of  the  inconvenience 
involved  in  making  separate  provision  for  their  lodging  and  sub 
sistence. 

The  Mexicans  also  predominate  in  the  unskilled  work  involved 
in  the  electric  railway  service  of  the  Southwest.  Data  were  obtained 
for  543  of  them  in  southern  California.  Of  these,  91.8  per  cent  were 
construction  and  maintenance  of  way  laborers,  the  others  car  cleaners 
and  unskilled  laborers  in  the  shops  maintained  by  interurban  electric 
railways.  Their  wages  correspond  closely  to  those  earned  in  the 
steam  railway  service,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  75.6  per  cent 
earned  less  than  $1.25  per  day.  In  one  locality,  where  three-fourths 
of  the  track  laborers  were  Mexicans  and  a  part  of  the  others  were 
Japanese,  these  races  were  paid  $1  to  $1.15  per  day  of  nine  to  ten 
hours,  with  lodging,  wood,  and  water.  In  another  locality  near  by 
North  Italians  were  employed  almost  exclusively  in  similar  work, 
three-fifths  of  them  earning  $1.75  but  less  than  $2,  the  others  $2  but 
less  than  $2.25,  per  day  of  nine  hours.  Taking  the  14  companies 
investigated  in  the  West,  75.6  per  cent  of  the  Mexicans  earned  less 
than  $1.25  per  day,  while  61.7  per  cent  of  the  North  Italians,  50.2  per 
cent  of  the  South  Italians,  and  54.4  per  cent  of  the  Greeks — races 
employed  in  the  same  occupations,  and  the  races  with  the  exception 
of  the  few  Japanese  and  the  Mexicans  having  the  smallest  earnings — 
earned  $2  but  less  than  $2.25  per  day. 

Coal  mining  is  a  much  less  important  source  of  employment  for  the 
Mexican  than  the  railroads,  partly  because  the  mine  operators  find 
more  desirable  laborers  available,  partly  because  they  do  not  have  as 
good  facilities  as  the  steam  railroad  companies  for  securing  the  immi 
grating  laborers  of  that  race.  They  are  employed  as  coal  miners  in 


72 

comparatively  small  numbers  in  Oklahoma  and  other  States  to  the 
east,  but  chiefly  in  the  southern  Colorado  field  and  in  New  Mexico. 
Of  2,417  persons  employed  in  coal  mines  investigated  in  southern 
Colorado,  immigrant  Mexicans  numbered  115;  of  1,143  on  the  pay 
rolls  of  mines  located  in  northern  New  Mexico,  they  numbered  134. 
The  number  employed  is  smaller  than  formerly,  for  in  southern 
Colorado  they  were  employed  in  large  numbers  as  strike  breakers  in 
1903-4,  but  permitted  to  drift  away  after  conditions  became  normal, 
because  they  were  not  regarded  as  being  as  good  laborers  as  other 
races  available,  and  especially  the  Italians.  The  Mexicans  do  not 
like  to  work  underground  nor  do  other  men  like  to  work  with  them 
because  of  the  Mexican's  carelessness  and  ignorance  in  the  use  of 
powder.  Of  249,  129  were  employed  as  common  laborers  in  surface 
work  and  as  wood  choppers  about  coke  ovens;  8  were  employed  as 
machinists  and  engineers  or  in  higher  capacities.  The  remaining  45 
per  cent  were  miners  and  loaders.  As  miners  and  loaders  the  pay 
rolls  of  the  mines  in  northern  New  Mexico  showed  that  because  of 
less  regular  work  their  earnings  were  the  smallest  of  all  the  races. 
Moreover,  their  daily  earnings  were  $2.87,  as  against  $3.26  for  all  of  the 
races  upon  the  pay  rolls.  Finally,  their  wages  as  laborers  about  the 
mines  and  coke  ovens  averaged  $2.11  per  day,  as  against  $2.66  earned 
by  the  Italians  and  $2.54  earned  by  all  races  employed. 

Metalliferous  mining  and  smelting  offer  to  Mexicans  a  much  larger 
field  for  employment,  largely  because  of  the  fact  that  Arizona  pro 
duces  more  than  two-fifths  of  the  copper  output  of  the  United  States 
and  that  many  of  the  mines  are  located  near  the  Mexican  border. 
New  Mexico's  mines  and  smelters  are  of  less  importance.  In  the 
metal  mines  of  these  States,  and  especially  in  those  within  a  hundred 
miles  or  so  of  the  Mexican  boundary,  a  large  percentage  of  Mexicans 
are  employed.  They  and  the  Italians  share  the  larger  part  of  the 
simplest  unskilled  work.  Of  609  Mexicans  out  of  a  grand  total  of 
2,307  persons  employed  in  mines  investigated,  only  2  were  foremen, 
employed  largely  because  of  their  position  as  " bosses"  and  inter 
preters,  and  only  20  were  mechanics.  As  has  been  stated,0  they  are 
the  scavengers  of  the  industry,  picking  up  the  positions  left  vacant  by 
other  classes  and  supplanting  the  least  skilled  and  least  reliable 
Europeans.  In  one  district  investigated  they  were  nearly  all  paid 
$1.50  per  day  as  common  laborers,  while  very  few  of  the  native  white 
men  and  Europeans  employed  were  paid  less  than  $2.75.  In  another 
district  in  which  Mexicans  and  Italians  were  extensively  employed  as 
miners  and  in  other  occupations  as  well  as  laborers,  the  wage  most 
commonly  paid  to  most  of  those  engaged  in  the  first-mentioned 
occupation  was  $2.25,  as  against  the  $3.50  per  day  which  was  the 
wage  commonly  paid  to  miners  in  the  district  farther  north,  and  in 
which  the  Mexicans  occupied  fewer  positions.  Of  the  Mexicans 
employed  in  the  mines  investigated,  6.9  per  cent  earned  $1.50  but 
less  than  $1.75  per  day,  44  per  cent  $1.75  but  less  than  $2,  42.4  per 
cent  $2  but  less  than  $2.50.  Thus,  only  7  per  cent  earned  as  much 
as  $2.50  per  day.  In  contrast  to  them,  21.1  per  cent  of  the  native- 
born  earned  $4  or  over  per  day  and  only  6.9  per  cent  earned  less  than 
$3.50.  The  earnings  of  the  Italians  alone  of  any  race  of  numerical 

a  Clark:  Mexican  Labor  in  the  United  States,  Bull.  78,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor. 


73 

importance  in  the  mines  present  no  strong  contrast  to  those  of  the 
Mexicans. 

Many  Mexicans  are  employed  in  the  smelter  at  El  Paso  and  in 
the  large  number  of  establishments  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona. 
The  number  employed  farther  north,  as  in  Colorado,  has  been  small, 
for  the  smelters  located  there  are  too  far  removed  from  the  source 
of  supply  at  El  Paso.  In  some  of  the  smaller  plants  of  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico  Mexicans  are  employed  almost  exclusively,  while 
in  most  of  the  larger  establishments  they  are  employed  to  do  the 
greater  part  of  the  heavy,  unskilled  work.  Of  more  than  1,400 
men  reporting  data  from  two  of  these,  for  example,  there  were 
922  Mexicans.  Of  66  foremen,  6  were  members  of  this  race,  as 
were  14  of  174  engineers  and  skilled  mechanics,  while  of  1,279  gen 
eral  laborers,  902  were  Mexicans,  52  were  natives  of  Mexican  father 
and  an  unknown  number  of  others  were  of  Mexican  descent.  Thus 
it  is  seen  that  most  of  them  were  employed  in  the  large  number 
of  occupations  which  call  for  little  or  no  skill.  More  than  40  per 
cent  of  them  were  paid  $1.50  per  day.  In  fact,  45.5  per  cent  of 
those  from  whom  data  were  obtained  earned  $1.50  but  less  than 
$1.75  per  day,  66.8  per  cent  less  than  $2,  which  was  the  lowest 
wage  paid  any  person  of  any  other  race,  and  87.3  per  cent  less  than 
$2.50  per  day,  while  97.4  per  cent  earned  less  than  $3  per  day.  It 
was  found  that  while  the  majority  earned  comparatively  low  wages 
because  common  laborers,  whatever  their  occupations  they  were 
generally  paid  less  than  native  white  men  and  European  immigrants 
engaged  in  the  same  or  in  similar  occupations.  While  87.3  per  cent 
of  the  Mexicans  earned  less  than  $2.50,  85  per  cent  of  tne  other 
immigrants  employed  earned  more  than  $2.50  per  day. 

Other  branches  of  employment  in  which  the  Mexicans  are 
employed  in  the  West  are  in  the  beet-sugar  industry  and  the  sea 
sonal  "agricultural  industries.  In  Colorado,  in  1909,  they  consti 
tuted  something  more  than  2,600  of  the  15,000  persons  engaged  in 
the  seasonal  hand  work  involved  in  growing  sugar  beets,  as  against 
an  approximately  equal  number  of  Japanese  and  two  and  a  half 
times  as  many  German-Russians.  The  Mexicans  have  been  brought 
by  the  sugar  companies  by  the  train  load  from  Arizona,  New  Mexico, 
and  El  Paso,  where  by  liberal  advertising  some  had  been  induced  to 
come  across  the  border,  beginning  ten  years  ago  in  southern  Colo 
rado  with  the  introduction  of  the  industry  and  in  northern  Colorado 
in  1903.  The  remuneration  is  from  $18  to  $20  per  acre  for  the 
hand  work.  The  Japanese  care  for  11  or  12  acres  each,  the  Mexi 
cans  about  8.  At  the  prices  which  obtain,  the  latter  earn  $2  or 
over  per  day  while  the  season  lasts.  In  California  the  number  of 
Mexicans  so  engaged  is  about  1,000  of  a  total  of  between  6,000 
and  7,000,  the  great  majority  of  whom  are  Japanese.  Though 
some  have  been  transported  to  northern  California  to  provide  com 
petition  with  the  Japanese,  the  great  majority  are  employed  in  a 
few  districts  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  and  even  here  they 
have  given  way  in  some  instances  to  the  more  ambitious  Japanese 
or  to  the  greater  attractions  of  the  factory  work.  Their  connection 
with  the  growing  of  beets  is  practically  limited  to  the  hand  work 
in  the  fields,  for  only  32  growers  of  that  race  were  found  in  Colorado 
and  15  in  California,  as  against  158  of  the  more  ambitious  Japanese 
in  Colorado  and  74  in  California.  As  hand  workers,  some  prefer  the 
Mexicans  to  the  Japanese;  others  prefer  the  Japanese  to  the  Mexicans. 


74 

Mexicans  have  been  employed  to  some  extent  in  the  beet-sugar 
factories  of  Colorado,  but  more  extensively  in  those  of  California. 
Indeed,  in  1909  it  is  estimated  that  they  constituted  about  one-fifth 
of  the  approximately  2,500  employed  in  the  factories  of  the  latter 
State.  They  are  found  in  the  factories  of  the  southern  part  of  the 
State,  and  their  work  is  unskilled,  consisting  chiefly  of  shoveling 
beets  and  the  other  heavy  and  dirty  work  involved  in  the  manu 
facture  of  sugar.  They  earn  from  17^  to  20  cents  per  hour  for  a 
twelve-hour  day,  while  common  laborers  of  the  various  white  races 
are  paid  as  a  minimum  20  cents  per  hour,  and  about  one-half  of 
them  are  paid  at  still  higher  rates.  The  Mexicans  are  strong  and 
satisfactory  at  this  work,  and  this  fact,  together  with  the  avail 
ability  of  Japanese  for  field  work,  has  caused  some  companies  to 
employ  them  in  the  factory  rather  than  in  the  field. 

In  southern  California  a  large  number  of  Mexicans  are  employed 
as  seasonal  laborers  in  the  fields  and  orchards  in  picking  grapes, 
walnuts,  and,  to  a  less  extent,  citrus  fruit.  In  some  localities  prac 
tically  all  of  these  men  have  been  engaged  in  railroad  work,  but  have 
left  it  for  the  more  remunerative  work  to  be  found  elsewhere.  They 
are  recent  immigrants,  migratory  and  working  in  groups  or  "gangs." 
In  other  localities  the  majority  are  settled  in  colonies,  and  among 
them  the  native-born  are  a  prominent  element.  The  members  of 
this  race  are  also  widely  employed  as  teamsters.  About  Fresno, 
Tulare,  and  Visalia,  farther  north,  several  hundred  Mexicans  are 
employed,  chiefly  as  grape  and  fruit  pickers.  In  their  various  agri 
cultural  occupations  the  Mexicans  are  paid  higher  wages  than  in 
railroad  works  When  not  paid  at  the  piece  rates  determined  by 
the  competition  among  the  several  races,  their  wages  are  almost 
invariably  fixed  either  at  the  rate  paid  to  white  men  or  at  the  some 
what  lower  rate  paid  to  the  Japanese.  As  a  rule  the  Mexicans 
have  been  regarded  as  fairly  efficient  laborers  for  agricultural  work, 
but  because  the  Japanese  have  a  well-developed  organization  of 
labor  which  is  a  great  convenience  to  the  growers,  are  more  versa 
tile,  and  in  most  communities  more  numerous  and  more  capable  of 
guaranteeing  a  supply  of  labor  sufficient  to  do  the  work  required, 
there  has  generally  been  an  effective  community  preference  for  the 
Japanese  as  opposed  to  the  Mexicans. 

From  the  summary  made  of  the  details  relating  to  Mexicans  in 
these  industries  the  following  facts  are  evident: 

(1)  That  the  incoming  Mexicans  have  afforded  a  supply  of  com 
mon  labor  in  the  Southwest  in  places  and  at  a  time  when,  because 
of  expanding  industry,  the  supply  from  other  sources  was  inadequate 
at  comparatively  high  wages; 

(2)  That  in  most  industries  they  are  paid  the  lowest  wage,  and  in 
transportation  particularly  are  regarded  as  the  cheapest  at  the  price, 
and  have  been  substituted,  when  possible,  for  the  members  of  other 
races  for  unskilled  work; 

(3)  That   in  most   industries  they   are  regarded   as   satisfactory 
laborers ; 

(4)  That  they  are  largely  migratory  and  easily  made  available 
for  work  where  needed; 

(5)  That   their   competition  is   practically  limited   to   the   most 
unskilled    employments,    and   being   without    ambition   and   perse- 


75 

verence,  and  unprogressive,  they  do  not  to  any  extent  compete  in 
other  walks  of  life;  in  brief, 

(6)  That  they  are  desirable  as  laborers  in  the  exploitation  of 
resources,   and  their  competitive  ability  is  relatively  limited  and 
does  not  appear  to  offer  any  ground  for  fear  of  a  general  displace 
ment  of  other  races ; 

(7)  That  for  geographic  and  climatic  reasons,  and  because  of  a 
strong  desire  to  return  frequently  to  their  native  land,  most  of  the 
Mexicans   have   remained   in   Texas,    New  Mexico,   Colorado,    and 
southern  California,  but  that  they  have  been  transported  to  a  limited 
extent  farther  north  to  northern  Colorado  and  to  northern  California 
for  seasonal  agricultural  work  with  satisfactory  results. 

Unless  conditions  change,  any  great  increase  in  the  number  of 
Mexicans  coming  to  the  United  States  is  not  to  be  expected,  in  spite 
of  the  facts  that  those  who  go  back  upon  visits  frequently  return 
with  their  families  and  friends  and  that  some  parts  of  Mexico  have 
not  yet  been  drawn  upon.  In  the  more  populous  districts  the 
superior  wages  to  be  earned  in  this  country  have  been  generally 
known.  Moreover,  the  industries  of  Mexico  are  expanding  rapidly, 
and  with  this  expansion  and  the  diminishing  importance  of  custom 
which  accompanies  it  the  wide  difference  between  American  and 
Mexican  wages  which  has  obtained  is  disappearing.  With  a  wider 
distribution  of  Mexican  labor  in  this  country  and  higher  wages  than 
now  prevail  a  larger  immigration  would,  of  course,  be  stimulated. 

Many  of  the  Mexican  laborers  return  from  their  visits  to  Mexico, 
bringing  their  families  with  them,  and  a  good  share  of  these  families 
settle  more  or  less  permanently  in  this  country.  In  this  way  the 
number  of  that  race  settled  in  Los  Angeles  has  increased  several  fold 
since  1900,  and  the  Mexican  quarters  of  some  other  cities  have  grown 
only  less  rapidly.  As  implied  in  this  statement,  the  Mexicans  settle 
in  colonies.  With  rare  exceptions  their  houses  are  the  poorest  in 
these  cities,  are  located  in  the  least  desirable  districts,  and  are  over 
crowded  to  a  greater  extent  than  those  of  practically  all  of  the  other 
immigrant  races.  An  investigation  of  Mexican  and  other  families 
in  Los  Angeles  revealed  the  fact  that  their  family  incomes  were  the 
smallest,  their  standard  of  living  the  lowest,  and  their  lack  of  thrift 
the  greatest  of  the  several  immigrant  races  investigated.  The  cost 
of  subsistence  among  the  railroad  laborers  is  approximately  $8  per 
month,  or  less,  if  anything,  than  that  of  the  Japanese  similarly 
employed.  In  these  cases,  however,  the  laborers  purchase  most  of 
their  food  supplies  from  the  employment  agents,  and  beans  occupy 
as  prominent  a  place  in  their  diet  as  rice  in  that  of  the  Asiatics.  In 
the  cities  the  cost  of  subsistence  was  found  to  depend  directly  upon 
how  much  was  earned  and  available  for  spending. 

The  assimilative  qualities  of  the  Mexican  are  slight.  Because  of 
backward  educational  facilities  in  their  native  land  and  a  constitu 
tional  prejudice  on  the  part  of  the  peons  toward  school  attendance, 
the  immigrants  of  this  race  have  among  them  a  larger  percentage 
of  illiterates  than  is  found  among  any  race  immigrating  to  the  western 
country  in  any  considerable  number.  Of  5,682  wage-earners  from 
whom  data  were  obtained  only  2,874,  or  50.58  per  cent,  reported 
that  they  could  read  and  write.  Moreover,  their  progress  in  learning 
English  is  very  slow.  Of  2,602  wage-earners  only  350,  or  13.45  per 
cent,  reported  that  they  could  speak  English.  Of  1,269  who  had 


76 

resided  in  the  United  States  less  than  five  years  only  7.1  per  cent, 
of  757  who  had  resided  here  from  five  to  nine  years  only  15.1  per 
cent,  and  of  504  who  had  resided  here  ten  years  or  over  only  29  per 
cent,  could  speak  English.  In  connection  with  these  data  relating  to 
literacy  and  ability  to  speak  English  it  must  be  noted,  however, 
that  the  Mexican  is  always  inclined  to  give  a  negative  answer, 
whereas  the  contrary  is  true  of  some  other  races. 

The  progress  of  the  Mexican  children  in  the  Los  Angeles  schools  is 
below  the  average  and  they  leave  school  early.  A  large  percentage 
of  the  native-born  can  not  speak  the  English  language.  Because  of 
their  strong  attachment  to  their  native  land,  low  intelligence,  illit 
eracy,  migratory  life,  and  the  possibility  of  their  residence  here 
being  discontinued,  few  become  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Of 
978  wage-earners  who  had  been  in  this  country  five  years  or  over  and 
who  were  21  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  their  immigration,  only  16  had 
become  naturalized  and  only  17  had  taken  out  their  first  papers. 
Of  326  who  had  been  here  ten  years  or  over,  300  were  aliens.  The 
percentage  of  citizens  among  those  settled  in  Los  Angeles  is  very  little 
larger.  In  so  far  as  Mexican  laborers  come  into  contact  with  natives 
or  with  European  immigrants  they  are  looked  upon  as  inferiors. 
Though  Mexican  teamsters  frequently  live  and  eat  with  white  ranch 
hands,  when  Mexicans  are  employed  in  groups  they  eat  by  themselves 
or  in  some  cases  with  the  negroes.  Marriages  between  Mexicans  and 
Europeans  or  Americans  are  rare.  Though  it  is  apparent  upon  their 
return  to  Mexico  that  American  ideas  and  institutions  here  left  their 
imprint  upon  them,  their  progress  toward  assimilation  has  perhaps 
not  been  more  rapid  than  that  of  the  conservative  Chinese. 

Because  of  a  lack  of  thrift  and  a  tendency  to  regard  public  relief  as 
a  "pension/7  as  indeed  it  is  commonly  known  among  Mexicans  in 
Los  Angeles,  many  of  the  Mexican  families  in  times  of  industrial 
depression  become  public  charges.  In  Los  Angeles  in  1908  approxi 
mately  one- third  of  the  persons  assisted  by  the  city  and  county  were 
of  this  race,  though  they  constitute  perhaps  only  one-twentieth  of  the 
population.  In  the  same  year  there  were  approximately  20,000 
arrests  in  Los  Angeles,  2,357  being  of  Mexicans — perhaps  little  more 
than  a  fair  proportion  of  the  total  when  differences  in  age  distribu 
tion  of  the  different  racial  elements  in  the  population  are  taken  into 
consideration.  Mexicans,  including  the  native-born,  constitute  a 
large  percentage  of  the  inmates  of  the  penal  institutions  of  Arizona. 
In  the  spring  of  1909,  268  Mexicans  in  the  territorial  prison  consti 
tuted  61  per  cent,  in  the  Pima  County  jail  the  83  Mexican  prisoners 
were  62  per  cent,  and  in  the  Tucson  city  jail  the  22  constituted  24.2 
per  cent,  of  the  entire  numbers  imprisoned.  The  principal  offenses  of 
the  members  of  this  race  are  petit  larceny  and  drunkenness,  with 
fights  among  themselves. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  in  the  case  of  the  Mexican  he  is  less  desirable 
as  a  citizen  than  as  a  laborer.  The  permanent  additions  to  the 
population,  however,  are  much  smaller  than  the  number  who  immi 
grate  for  work. 

CONCLUSIONS    AND   RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The  immigration  of  Europeans  to  the  Western  States  has  not  given 
rise  to  any  problems  which  are  not  found  in  more  acute  form  in  the 
States  of  the  East.  For  this  reason  nothing  further  need  be  said 


77 

concerning  immigration  from  that  quarter  except  that  the  West  is 
in  need  of  a  larger  population  to  settle  the  land,  exploit  its  resources, 
and  provide  a  supply  of  labor  for  the  maintenance  and  expansion  of 
its  industries. 

The  Mexican  immigrants  are  providing  a  fairly  acceptable  supply 
of  labor  in  a  limited  territory  in  which  it  is  difficult  to  secure  others, 
and  their  competitive  ability  is  limited  because  of  their  more  or  less 
temporary  residence  and  their  personal  qualities,  so  that  their  incoming 
does  not  involve  the  same  detriment  to  labor  conditions  as  is  involved 
in  the  immigration  of  other  races  who  also  work  at  comparatively  low 
wages.  While  the  Mexicans  are  not  easily  assimilated,  this  is  not  of 
very  great  importance  as  long  as  most  of  them  return  to  their  native 
land  after  a  short  time.  They  give  rise  to  little  race  friction,  but 
do  impose  upon  the  community  a  large  number  of  dependents,  mis 
demeanants,  and  petty  criminals  where  they  settle  in  any  considerable 
number. 

At  present  the  Chinese  laborers  are  excluded  from  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  by  law,  and  the  Japanese  and  Korean  laboring 
classes  are  as  effectively  excluded  by  agreement.  Elsewhere  the 
Commission  has  recommended  that  no  change  be  made  in  the  pres 
ent  policy  of  the  Government  as  regards  the  immigration  of  Chinese, 
Japanese,  and  Korean  laborers. 

The  East  Indian  laborers  of  the  class  who  have  been  coming  to  the 
Pacific  coast  during  the  last  few  years  are,  from  no  point  of  view, 
desirable  members  of  the  community.  The  British  Government 
has  consented  to  regulations  which  have  effectively  excluded  the 
laborers  of  this  race  from  Canada,  which  measures  have  been  closely 
connected  with  and  partly  responsible  for  the  more  recent  immi 
gration  of  East  Indian  laborers  to  the  Pacific  Coast  States.  Else 
where  the  Commission  has  recommended  that  an  agreement  with 
Great  Britain  be  sought,  which  would  effectively  exclude  the  same 
classes  from  the  United  States. 

The  conclusions  reached  with  regard  to  the  desirability  of  permit 
ting  Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Korean  laborers  again  to  enter  this  coun 
try  after  such  immigration  has  been  restricted  are  based  upon  a  num 
ber  of  considerations,  in  part  social  and  political,  in  part  economic. 

In  the  first  place,  while  the  laborers  of  these  races  have  done  much 
to  develop  certain  industries,  notably  fish  canning  and  intensive  agri 
culture,  and  while  their  labor  in  other  instances,  as  in  domestic 
service,  has  been  a  great  convenience,  they  have  competed  keenly 
and  generally  at  a  lower  wage  in  certain  industries,  displacing 
laborers  of  other  races  to  an  extent  and  retarding  a  desirable  increase 
of  wages.  Their  immigration  has  been  a  detriment  to  labor  condi 
tions,  and  while  the  great  majority  have  been  transient  laborers, 
returning  after  several  years  to  their  native  land,  an  increasing 
minority  of  the  laborers  have  settled  here  indefinitely,  and  by  engag 
ing  in  petty  business,  and  especially  in  farming  for  themselves,  have 
competed  with  the  small  business  men  of  the  cities  and  towns,  as  in 
the  laundry  and  restaurant  trades,  and  the  small  farmers  of  other 
races.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  Japanese,  who,  because  of  their 
ambition,  ability,  and  industry,  and  the  limitations  placed  by  others 
upon  their  progress  as  laborers,  have  made  rapid  advance  in  securing 
control  of  land  and  of  certain  petty  trades,  with  a  consequent  dis 
placement  of  laborers  of  other  races  a/or!  discouragement  and  loss  of 


78 

profit  to  the  members  of  different  races  engaged  in  these  branches  of 
enterprise.  In  brief,  the  immigration  of  those  who  first  found  employ 
ment  as  laborers  has  given  rise  to  a  competition  not  limited  to  the 
laboring  classes.  While  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  as  tenants  have 
reduced  to  cultivation  much  land  which  has  proved  unattractive  to 
others,  they  have  also  leased  land  for  which  there  was  a  general 
demand,  thus  preventing  the  influx  of  other  races  and  their  settle 
ment  as  farmers.  Furthermore,  whatever  the  capacities  of  these 
races  for  assimilation  may  be,  where  any  considerable  number  have 
appeared  sooner  or  later  a  situation  has  developed  which  has  greatly 
retarded  or  prevented  the  desired  end,  so  that  the  Chinese  who  have 
been  here  for  many  years  have  been  assimilated  to  only  a  slight 
extent  as  compared  to  the  white  immigrant  races,  and  the  more 
adaptable  Japanese  are  encountering  the  same  difficulties. 

Friction  and  race  conflict  have  developed  on  several  occasions 
which  have  imperiled  the  harmonious  relations  between  the  gov 
ernments  to  which  the  contestants  owe  allegiance.  Trade  relations 
have  also  been  imperiled  because  of  these  conflicts  incidental  to  the 
contact  between  the  races.  Whether  the  Asiatics  have  fewer  assimi 
lative  qualities  than  certain  European  immigrants  or  not,  there  is  as 
a  general  phenomenon  a  feeling  exhibited  against  them  not  exhibited 
against  others,  which  tends  to  prevent  the  assimilation  of  those  who 
remain  here  and  which  is  a  source  of  difficulty.  Finally,  it  is  not 
believed  that  the  necessity  exists  for  changing  the  present  policy 
and  permitting  a  limited  or  an  unrestricted  immigration  of  Asiatics  to 
maintain  industries  which  have  been  built  up  with  the  assistance  of 
Asiatic  labor.  The  continued  need  for  that  specific  kind  of  labor 
presumed  by  some  to  exist,  especially  in  the  beet-sugar  industry  and 
certain  branches  of  California  agriculture,  is  not  apparent. 

The  present  general  policy  of  preventing  the  immigration  of  eastern 
Asiatic  laborers  is  indorsed  by  practically  all  classes  represented  in 
the  West,  save  those  who  assert  the  moral  necessity  of  according  the 
same  treatment  to  all  races  with  little  regard  to  consequences  which 
result  from  so  doing  and  those  who  assert  that  this  specific  kind  of 
labor  is  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  such  industries  as  those  just 
mentioned. 

A  few  memorials  have  been  presented  to  Congress  requesting  a 
limited  immigration  of  Chinese;  many  assert  the  necessity  of  more 
Japanese  if  the  Chinese,  whom  they  prefer,  are  not  forthcoming. 
If  the  present  specialization  of  communities  in  growing  sugar  beets  or 
only  a  few  intensive  crops,  the  present  large  holdings  now  found  in 
many  places,  the  present  methods  of  securing  laborers,  and  the 
existing  wages,  hours,  and  conditions  of  living  and  work  for  farm 
laborers  are  all  to  remain  the  same,  Asiatic  labor  is  of  course  necessary, 
for  these  have  been  given  shape  by  the  employment  of  labor  of  that 
kind.  If  it  is  essential  that  these  conditions  should  remain  as  they 
are  at  present,  then  Asiatic  labor  is  necessary  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  industries.  There  is,  however,  the  question  whether,  with  the 
possibility  of  securing  Asiatic  laborers  now  in  the  country  for  work 
which  is  of  such  a  character  that  the,  employment  of  others  does  not 
seem  feasible,  changes  and  readjustments  can  not  be  made  which 
will  make  it  possible  to  substitute,  without  prohibitive  cost,  white 
laborers  at  the  rate  of  a  few,  or,  if  need  be,  several  thousand  per 
year  as  Asiatic  laborers  become  fewer  as  a  result  of  the  present  policy 


79 

of  restriction  or  exclusion  ?  In  this  connection  the  following  features 
relating  to  certain  agricultural  employments,  which  aside  from 
salmon  canning  alone  have  been  dependent  in  any  real  sense  upon 
Asiatic  labor,  are  in  point : 

(1)  Though  in  some  agricultural  communities,  as  a  result  of  the 
employment  of  Asiatic  labor,  certain  occupations  are  not  regarded 
as  "  white  man's  work/7  there  is  no  work  engaged  in  by  Asiatics  in 
the  West  which  is  not  done,  to  some  extent,  by  white  men  and  in 
which  white  men  do  not  engage  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

(2)  It  is  believed  that  the  supply  of  white  laborers  available  for 
ranch  work  could  be  greatly  increased  if  the  living  conditions,  which 
are  confessedly  bad  in  many  cases,  were  improved.     In  a  relatively 
large  number  of  cases  it  has  been  found  that  where  the  living  con 
ditions  were  good  no  difficulty  had  been  experienced  in  securing  the 
white    laborers    needed    except    for    brier    seasonal    employment. 
Furthermore,  it  would  appear  that  the  greater  efficiency  of  laborers 
thus  obtained  would  frequently  offset  the  extra  outlay  required. 

(3)  The  problem  of  the  seasonal  demand  for  labor,  which  is  a  con 
spicuous  fact  in  certain  industries,  can,  in  a  number  of  cases,  be 
solved  in  part  at  least  by  fuller  utilization  of  the  white  labor  supply 
of  the  cities,  which,  with  an  abundant,  organized,  and  convenient 
supply  of  Asiatic  labor  at  hand,  has  not  been  used  in  many  instances. 
At  Vacaville,  however,  some  2,000  were  obtained  through  employ 
ment  agents  for  the  fruit  harvest  in  1908.     With  the  exception  of  a 
few  communities   most  of   the  hops  are  now  harvested  by  white 
people,  who  come  for  the  picking  season.     One  difficulty  has  been 
that  the  orchardists  and  other  small  growers  have  not  been  in  posi 
tion  to  secure  the  white  labor  themselves  because  it  has  not  been 
organized,  or  to  guarantee  work  so  as  to  make  it  attractive.   In 
southern  California,  however,  in  several  instances,  the  packing  houses 
and  the  citrus  fruit  associations  have  " crews"  of  white  pickers  who 
are  sent  to  the  ranches  where  they  are  needed  for  harvest  work. 
In  some  other  industries,  as  in  the  deciduous-fruit  industry,  where  the 
fruit  is  shipped  "green,"  a  similar  organization  is  possible.     In  fact, 
some  shippers  now  pack  the  fruit  delivered  to  them.     It  would  be  pos 
sible  to  extend  this  system  and  maintain  "gangs"  of  pickers  and 
packers  and  send  them  to  the  places  where  needed. 

(4)  Mexicans,  German-Russians,  and  other  white  races  can  be  used 
more  extensively  in  the  hand  work  in  the  beet  fields  until  such  time 
as  the  lands  are  subdivided  and  the  growing  of  beets  takes  its  place 
in  diversified  farming — a  condition  which  obtains  at  Lehi,  Utah, 
where  the  families  of  American,  English,  and  other  farmers,  with  the 
assistance  of  regular  farm  laborers,  do  the  work  in  the  fields. 

(5)  A  greater  diversity  of  crops  and  of  industries  in  the  community 
can  be  developed  so  as  more  nearly  to  equalize  the  demand  for  labor 
and  to  provide  fairly  regular  employment  for  laborers  where  it  is  not 
now  to  be  found.     This  fact  has  already  appealed  to  some  growers  on 
the  Sacramento  River  and  has  simplified  the  problem  on  certain 
ranches. 

(6)  With  a  diminishing  number  of  Asiatic  laborers,  there  will  be  a 
tendency  to  subdivide  the  large  vineyards  and  vegetable  farms  which 
have  been  conducted  here  and  there  as  "estates"  or  by  corporations. 
This  would  induce  a  settlement  of  families  upon  small  farms,  the 
members  of  the  families  would  do  most  of  the  work,  and  this  would 


80 

incline  toward  solving  the  problem  of  labor,  for  smaller  holdings 
would  naturally  be  accompanied  by  a  greater  diversity  of  crops. 

(7)  A   development   such   as   that   indicated   and   a   diminishing 
number  of  Asiatics  will  increase  the  influx  of  families  from  the  East 
and  Middle  West,  which,  without  doubt,  has  been  retarded  by  the 
presence  of  the  Asiatics. 

(8)  Finally,  a  larger  influx  of  laborers  and  families,  especially  of  the 
Italians  and  Portuguese,  would  follow  the  completion  of  the  Panama 
Canal.     While  there  has  been  much  criticism  of  immigrants  from 
southern  Europe,  in  so  far  as  it  has  been  connected  with  the  agri 
cultural  class  it  is  principally  based  upon  the  fact  that  they  have 
been  clannish  and  have  usually  worked  for  their  countrymen.     With 
increasing  numbers  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they  would  not 
be  available  as  a  part  of  the  general  labor  supply,  and  prove  to  be 
fairly  satisfactory  laborers  and  small  farmers. 

O 


